Salisbury Sitting Volleyball Club
Over the last 12 months the Volleyball England Foundation has supported the development of 5 new sitting volleyball teams, one of these clubs is Salisbury VC.
The Salisbury sitting volleyball team will be coached and managed by sitting volleyball Paralympians Ben and Kendra Hall. Ben represented Team GB at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and Kendra is a three-time Paralympic medallist who competed for the USA in 2004, 2008 and 2012.
“As a small club this would have been difficult to do on our own, but with the support of the Volleyball England Foundation we can hit the ground ‘sliding’ later this year!” says Kendra Hall, SVC sitting volleyball manager. “We believe that volleyball is for everyone and are so pleased that the sitting game can be made more accessible to our local and regional communities through SVC.
“There are few organisations in this part of the country that offer sitting volleyball programmes, and our aim is to make this a shining example of what can be achieved in grassroots adaptive sport - not just in our region, but throughout the country.”
Ben (head coach) and Kendra were made aware that there was demand for a sitting volleyball club in the region as there were several existing players that lived in the south Wiltshire area. Salisbury volleyball club was very excited about adding a new section of the club!
The funding was a great help in funding coaching qualifications for Ben and setting the team up with volleyballs to begin training.
Ben and Kendra promoted the sitting team to the rest of the club and managed to recruited several players into the sport through this!
The most challenging aspect of the team so far has been the funding and getting our heads round the management of a team. Salisbury have never done this before, and it's been a steep learning curve
The most challenging aspect of the team so far has been the funding and getting our heads round the management of a team. Salisbury have never done this before, and it's been a steep learning curve
The best part of developing the sitting part of the club has been seeing the team grow and improve. We had very little sitting volleyball experience in the team at the start, and the players have worked really hard and dedicated themselves to this club. I absolutely love that,
As Paralympians Ben and Kendra, feel good giving something back to a sport that has done so much for the two of them. Sitting volleyball changed their lives when they began playing , and it's my hope that they can make that happen for someone else!
What are your aspirations for the future of Salisbury sitting team?
Win the Grand Prix Series next year
We hope that the Salisbury Spitfires can serve as an example of a successful club to others wanting to start a team of their own.
Thank you to Ben and Kendra Hall for this piece.
If you are interested in setting up a sitting team in your club contact foundation@volleyballengland.org for an application form.