Are you interested in Volleyball?

In the South West region, there are many people who are passionate about Volleyball - could you be one of them? There are many opportunities to take part in Volleyball Events, with some Areas even having Volleyball sections.

Hundreds of volleyball players descended on Loughborough on 8-9 September for the Inter Departmental Championships, including teams from the South West.

In January 2009, the South West region held the Barbados Challenge Qualifier for Volleyball and below is an update on how the qualifying team has been preparing:

The team is composed of players from different locations within the South West region: Salisbury Civil Service Volleyball Club, HMPS and Bristol. Therefore, opportunities for preparation as team have been limited. However, individual players have entered several open tournaments, and wherever the opportunity arises, have competed together. The tournaments attended by many of us include: Ashcombe, Salisbury, Whitefield and Gloucester. These have all been weekend tournaments, so two days of playing volleyball at each tournament has been really good practice.

Although the weather has not been tropical at the tournaments, it has meant that some of our pale skin has been exposed to the sun, which might save us from burning while we are out in Barbados!

As well as tournament entry, the Salisbury Civil Service Volleyball Club holds indoor coaching every Monday, so those who are in the qualifying team are encouraged to attend in order to increase their skills as well as making sure they are playing regularly.

Some players also play for other clubs such as Salisbury, New Forest and Bristol so they are training up to 3 times a week for 2 hours each session.

In September, the team hopes to hold a 'Pre-Barbados' get together, including partners and players' guests so everyone will have met before we fly out together. The entire team is very excited to be representing CSSC at the first SW Barbados Challenge event - the countdown has well and truly begun and we can't wait to fly out!

Although the team will not be able to travel to Barbados in 2010, we intend to play at the 2010 Barbados Challenge qualifier to liaise with other teams and inform them of our experiences in 2009.

Watch this space to see how they get on! Good luck against the Bajans!