A celebration of a life in volleyball.

Volleyball has lost one of the long term stalwarts of the sport when Brian Kendall passed away recently.

Brian gave so much to volleyball over the last 50+ years it’s hard to know where to start, let alone sum up his contribution. He was there from the very beginnings of volleyball on Merseyside in the late 60s, and very quickly got involved in administration, where, alongside legends of the game like George Bulman and Peter Hoare, he helped establish the Merseyside League, the English Schools Volleyball Association, and the basic structure of the EVA. He was primarily interested in junior volleyball and travelled the country in the early 70s with his wife and kids in tow (literally in a now mythical caravan) organising and running junior competitions. There are lots of grandmas and grandads out there today with fond memories of Brian’s endless banter and Joyce’s cups of tea.

Brian’s support for junior volleyball took him from chairing the EVA Schools and Junior commission to sitting on Competitions Commission. He also ran the National U15 cup for more than 30 years and was also deeply involved in some of the biggest projects ever undertaken by the English Volleyball Association.

Building on his Schools and Junior commission role Brian ran the English Volleyball Association’s U15 championships for more than 30 years. Juggling competing claims and geographical arguments while keeping everyone onside, persuading schools and clubs to host, negotiating free or very cheap venues for the last 8s among Birmingham’s universities and colleges, he managed the competition virtually single handed and kept it going until ill-health forced him to give up in 2017.

MERSEYSIDE VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE

Merseyside was one of the hotbeds of volleyball activity in England back the early 1970s. A few good coaches based in schools and colleges produced winning teams in national junior competitions (boys and girls). This developed into two division 1 NVL men’s teams and very strong representation in both men’s and women’s national teams. Brian did his bit by setting up the Merseyside Volleyball League in 1972. It was very successful, and in the early 80s boasted 13 divisions (men, women and mixed) and 5 cup competitions all run by a man and a dog.

Despite all his other activities the MVL stayed close to his heart throughout his life and this year, 2021, was the first time he did not chair the AGM since the league’s inception. Like everything else it reflected his unique approach, essentially collaborative, and run entirely by volunteers - but there was never any doubt of who was in charge.

Brian ‘twinkled’, he was always amusing and full of stories, good company and fun to be around. He kept in touch with a massive number of friends and contacts, spending a huge amount of time on the phone, organising competitions and keeping everyone up to date with characteristic good humour.

He loved kids. From the start much of what he took on was driven by that motivation. He was still going into local secondary and primary schools to run coaching sessions even when he needed a walking aid - and still insisting that his interpretation of 4v4 for primary schools was the only way to do it. He was also always on hand to run local junior competitions - drop of a hat tournaments - in schools, between schools, for local authority competition organisers, on grass, on the beach…., a figure recognised and loved by huge numbers of Merseyside youngsters.

 Brian was a prime example of an old fashioned breed, selfless, expecting neither financial reward nor overt honour/ praise, the ultimate can-do guy, not phased by anything and always able to deliver. We will miss him.

Thank you Alan Bell for this piece on his long time volleyball friend.