A true dedicated Volleyball nut - Steve Evans

Stewart Dunne talks about his dear friend and fellow referee Steve Evans.

Whilst Steve has long been regarded as a fantastic referee and President of Referee Commission he was a very active player within and administrator for the West Midlands Volleyball Association having sat on their committee in various guise for almost 30 years. Steve was and is an active member of the Caravan Club volleyball movement and annually can be found, not only attending one of their main events in the West Midlands, but setting up and managing the weekend.

What many may not remember is that Steve was one of a foremost Court Managers and along with Allan Diplock was the true expert on laying Taraflex floors for over 35 years. I first got to know Steve during the 1991 World Student Games in Sheffield where he was not only a Volleyball venue manager but also led the team that lifted and relayed the floors in the Sheffield arena for the Volleyball semi finals and finals which were held on alternate nights with Basketball.

Over the. years we have spent many happy time at Volleyball, both referees, staff referees and event organisers.  

One of our true stalwarts it was privilege to have Steve as the Field of Play Team Leader for the London 2012 Olympic Volleyball competitions. A role he took on with his normal 100% commitment and good humour.  This was made all the more remarkable given 2 months prior to the games Steve had a very serious emergency operation that left him very ill and longer to recover than normal.

My greatest pleasure was seeing him court side for that first match (if somewhat thinner) but with the biggest grin on his face as he ensured the teams had exactly what they need to begin their journeys for Gold medal glory.

Thank you Stewart.

If you have someone in our volleyball community you would like to acknowledge feel free to send me a short piece about them and some photos to foundation@volleyballengland.org.