What an amazing celebration of sport the 2022 Commonwealth Games provided.

The atmosphere around the city and the warm welcome to everyone reminded me of the London 2012 Olympics, every face with a smile, every hand ready to high five.

It’s hard to imagine that back in 2019 Beach Volleyball wasn’t part of the 2022 Games, but through hard work and dedication of Volleyball England, the CWG Committee agreed to include it, and what an amazing event it was.

The Volleyball arena, set in the Smithfield market site, a short walk from the city centre was buzzing with excitement, the venue for the Beach Volleyball and the 3 V 3 Basketball. The weather was also amazing with glorious sunshine every day, Birmingham was warmer than the Gold Coast.

What makes event like this so special is the volunteers that support and in volleyball we have some of the best, most experienced volunteers across the sporting sector. This year there was a mix of older and younger volunteers, the experienced and the enthusiastic, working side by side and everyone happy to be part of the event.

For many of the younger volunteers this was their first experience of a major event and what a good job they did. Thank you to all the people who help support these youngsters, they had an fantastic experience and we hope this is just the start of their involvement in delivering high quality events at all levels of the game.

We cant say good bye to Birmingham without a mention of the Volleyball England Ambassadors, Joaquin and Javier Bello bringing home a bronze medal.

Javier said: “It's very hard to put it into words. We're just really grateful, really proud and really excited. That was the best experience we've had in our career so far. 

“Having all those people supporting us and enjoying beach volleyball, having our family there and being able to enjoy this moment with them is indescribable really. It's amazing and I hope we live another moment like this.”

So thank you Birmingham - it was amazing - looking forward to Victoria Australia in March 2026.