The Committee at DARKSTAR have been thinking what the future might look like.

As it starts to look like the government are thinking about opening leisure facilities can I ask what your club is doing to prepare to go back to playing?

The DARKSTAR committee regularly meets to understand and interpret the guidelines from the Government and Volleyball England to see how this impacts our club, members and training. The main focus has been to ascertain the availability of our current venues, all of which are educational sites and will have their own challenges to face. The recruitment of new players has also been a focus. Since lockdown we have been holding two Zoom fitness sessions each week for our members and over the summer we will be preparing for the indoor season (however that looks) by small pockets of people training on the grass with our outdoor nets.

What do you think the main challenges will be and how are you going to overcome them?

The main challenge, as mentioned above,  will be finding suitable venues to host our extensive club training sessions. We are in touch with current venues as well as considering what other options are available. Logistics play a big part here and we need to ensure the venues are accessible for players and coaches and hall availability is always an issue. As indoor centres start to open to they will face their own difficulties and we will need to work in close contact to ensure ours and their conditions are met. Ensuring everybody is safe whilst trying to get back to 'normal' is paramount, there may be some players/coaches who have their own concerns or worries and so club communications are going to be vital during this transitional time. 

We are considering some challenges around recruitment, inevitably there will be some players who may not return to the club and there may be some players looking to relocate so we are happy to welcome new players, especially as season 20/21 will be our 10th season and so lots to celebrate! 

View DARKSTAR’s recruitment video here

What do you think the ‘New Normal’ will look like?

 The 'new normal' from a training point of view currently will look like small groups taking part in training sessions outdoors. We will look to tailor these specifically so that teams can train together, and depending on restrictions we may need to consider a rota system. Gradually moving indoors, as and when this is possible, but with thorough risk assessments in place and guidelines followed at all time. As other sports slowly make their return to competitive play we hope volleyball will not be too far away. One sure thing is that this season will be a one to remember but let's hope we can get back to safely competing on the court soon!  

Thank you Raj Bual (Chair) and Helen Britten on behalf of the DARKSTAR Committee.