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29th May 2016 - Go Spike Big Weekend

Over the late May Bank Holiday weekend, volleyball clubs across the country will be opening up their courts to new members by running free events as part of Volleyball England's Go Spike Big Weekend.

Stowmarket Volleyball Club are aiming to expand their successful ladies, men's and mixed squads. In partnership with the nationwide This Girl Can campaign which celebrates active women up and down the country who are doing their thing, our event will be welcoming newcomers on Sunday the 29th of May from 7-9pm. You can find out how Rachel, who features in one of the This Girl Can posters, found a love for volleyball in this Elle Magazine article.

The event will be held at the Recreation Ground in Stowmarket, IP14 1JZ, and be open to everyone aged fourteen and over, male and female.

For a map showing the location of Stowmarket Recreation Ground (The Rec), click here.

August 2015 - Go Spike Big Weekend

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, volleyball clubs across the country will be opening up their courts to new members by running free events as part of Volleyball England's Go Spike Big Weekend.

Stowmarket Volleyball Club are aiming to develop a ladies squad to complement the successful men's and mixed squads. In partnership with the nationwide This Girl Can campaign which celebrates active women up and down the country who are doing their thing, our event will be welcoming newcomers on Sunday the 30th of August from 6-8pm. You can find out how Rachel, who features in one of the This Girl Can posters, found a love for volleyball in this Elle Magazine article.

The event will be held at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre in Stowmarket and be open to everyone aged fourteen and over, male and female. On arrival at the Leisure Centre, let the receptionists know that you're there for volleyball and make your way to the Main Hall. Please aim to arrive ten minutes early so that we can make our introductions and then make the most of our time on the court.

August 2013 - Club Update

Below is an email Andrew recently sent round to all club members. If you did not receive it but would like to receive future emails, please let him know your email address add his Hotmail email address to your contacts to help make sure it doesn't get caught by your spam filter.

It's been a great summer for volleyball in Stowmarket with us able to play on two and often three courts on The Rec twice a week for most weeks since mid-May. At the high-performance end of the club we also had regular beach volleyball training at the Copleston Centre for the first time! There have been some good results in the competitions we've entered - of particular note: Blanca, Louise, Marek and Nick are Mixed Champions at the Suffolk Open; Chris S, Kevin and Mark won the Lowestoft tournament and Chris S and Mark finished in positions 1 & 2 in the Saturday competition at the prestigious King and Queen of the Beach Tournament in Croyde. Meanwhile, joining forces with Brentwood, Chris W and Jack won the Cambridge tournament. Unfortunately in doing so, Chris twisted his ankle; we wish him a speedy recovery.

Sunday Open Sessions

Now it's getting darker earlier, it is time to move indoors, with the session on Wednesday the 28th of August being our last outdoor session of the summer. Our open sessions for adults and youth (age 14+) on Sundays will now be two hours, from 6-8pm in the Main Hall at Mid-Suffolk Leisure Centre in Stowmarket. Prices for this will be £6 per session, or £13.50 per month (all-year-round) by standing order for adults and, for under-19s: £3 per session / £6.75 per month (all-year-round) by standing order. Entries into the Suffolk Indoor Series (Maidenhall tournaments), Suffolk Open and Lowestoft Beach tournaments will be covered for those choosing to pay by standing order. Over the year, the standing order option offers a 30% discount on the pay-as-you-go price.

The dates for the Suffolk Indoor Series have not yet been released. As soon as they are, they will appear on the Suffolk Volleyball Association website.

Juniors

Our junior sessions for ages 9-14 in the gym at Stowmarket Middle School will move to Wednesdays. They'll resume on the 25th of September and will run from 5:45-6:45pm each week. The cost will be £25 for all the sessions in the autumn term. Please spread the word to those you know with children!

Stingers - Tuesdays

As well as our adult / youth open sessions, Stow Stingers also have sessions for ladies and recreational-level men. These are on Tuesdays from 7-9pm at Stowupland and are organised by Pat Lambert and usually coached by Alan Jones (Senior). They have similar costs to our Sunday sessions. For more information, contact Pat: edwinlambert@madasafish.com.

New clubs - Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and North-East Ipswich

We will be starting new clubs in Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill and North-East Ipswich over the next few months! The Bury sessions will be at the Leisure Centre on Sunday afternoons from 2-3:30pm for adults and youth (14+) and 3:30-5pm for juniors (ages 9-14), starting on the 29th of September. The Haverhill sessions are expected to be on Wednesday or Thursday evenings form 6-7:30pm at Castle Manor Academy and the Ipswich sessions are expected to be on Saturdays from 2-4pm at St Albans High School. The Haverhill and Ipswich sessions are expected to start later in the autumn.

Facebook and Twitter

To be kept up-to-date, please like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. If you'd like to help us publicise our sessions please share our posts or retweet our tweets.

Volunteers

To help make the club bigger and better, we could do with some help in various areas. If you're willing to help out in any way, please let Andrew know and we'll find a role that is suitable for you!

That's it for now, hopefully see you soon!

May 2013 - Club Update

Below is an email Andrew recently sent round to all club members. If you did not receive it but would like to receive future emails, please add his Hotmail email address to your contacts to help make sure it doesn't get caught by your spam filter.

With the end of the indoor season now with us, we wanted to keep you up-to-date with a few things including letting you know the details for our outdoor sessions which will be free and open to all!

Suffolk Cup Final - 28th April

Our Men's first team are up against holders Newmarket in the Suffolk Cup Final tomorrow (Sunday the 28th of April) at Newmarket Leisure Centre, CB8 0EA. They've had a great build up this week with two wins to cement their second place in the Essex League. It would be great to have plenty of supporters along to cheer us on - first serve is at 2:30pm and the match is the best of five sets.

Final indoor sessions of the season

Our last Sunday open session of the season is this Sunday (28th of April). It is at the later time of 7-8pm. A few of us plan to stay for a drink afterwards, so it would be good if you can join us. We'll return indoors on Sunday the 1st of September, still at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre. We will be booking two-hour slots, with exact times to be confirmed.

Our last junior session of the season is this Tuesday (30th of April). They are expected to resume on the 25th of September, moving to Wednesdays from 5:45-6:45pm, still at Stowmarket Middle School.

Our men's first team squad sessions have finished for the season. They are expected to resume on Wednesday the 4th of September at Stowupland High School from 8-10pm.

Outdoor Sessions

Our weekly outdoor sessions are held throughout the summer on Sundays and Wednesdays. In 2013 the sessions will start on Wednesday the 22nd of May and run until the end of August. They are suitable for everyone from beginners to the top players in Suffolk and free to all! We'll be concentrating on playing games and not doing drills, with a relaxed environment. The sessions will run from 6-9pm with people arriving when they can and staying for as long as they like. We'll finish a little earlier in August as it gets dark earlier. Andrew will be focussing on the juniors from 6-7pm and there will be other courts available for adults and high school students at the same time.

Please note that the sessions will be cancelled if the ground is wet. The club sends text messages to let people know whether or not the session is going ahead, aiming to make the decision at least an hour before the session. If you would like to receive these messages, please let Andrew know your mobile number. His is 07508 351875.

Whilst new people will be welcome at every session, there will be a particular focus on new people with competitions and prizes for them at two of our sessions, so please encourage anyone you think might be interested in joining us to come along to these:

  • Sunday 26th May - Go Spike Big Weekend
  • Sunday 28th July - Join In UK

If you want to bring new people along on other dates, bring middle school students at 6pm and adults and high school students at 7pm, so that we can show them the basics.

Outdoor Tournaments

We will enter teams in the following tournaments. If you want to play, let Andrew know and get your entry fee to him ASAP!

Suffolk Open - Sun 9th June, in Stowmarket!

This is the Suffolk Volleyball Association's annual outdoor four-a-side tournament. It is usually held at Chilton Fields in Stowmarket, the home of Stowmarket Rugby Club. With two divisions (one for National / Regional / top-level local league men's teams and the other for mixed and recreational teams), it is one of the biggest one-day tournaments in the country, attracting entrants from across the Eastern Region and beyond.

The tournament starts at 10am and runs finishes around 5pm. It will be £5 per player. For more details, see the Suffolk Volleyball Association's website.

Lowestoft Beach 3v3- Sat 15th June

This is another friendly one-day tournament, this time 3-a-side and on sand. The Elite Division is a similar standard to Division One at the Suffolk Open and the Intermediate / Fun division is similar to the Suffolk Open's Division Two. They also have a Novice division.

Registration is at 8:30am and the tournament continues until around 6pm. The entry fee is £6 per player.

JUVO - Juniors - Brentwood - Sun 23rd June

This is the tournament for juniors. We're hoping to take U11 two-a-side and U13 three-a-side teams with three divisions for each age-group. It will cost £5 per player plus transport costs. They will also have the Go Spike Speed Cage where you can test how hard you can spike the ball and there will be a barbecue on site. JUVO is scheduled to start play at 10am and finish around 4pm when medals and trophies will be presented to the winners and runners-up in each event.

The tournament has a Facebook Event setup.

More!

There are loads more tournaments around the country! The top Beach Volleyball players in the country will be in Great Yarmouth on the 27th and 28th of July as part of the Volleyball England Beach Tour and the Cambridge Tournament is a great two-day event which will be held over the weekend of the 17th and 18th of August, with on-site camping. We'll see if there's enough interest in entering a team in this nearer the time. We've listed a few more on the fixtures page of our website.

Volunteers

To help make the club bigger and better, we could do with some help in various areas. If you're willing to help out in any way, please let Andrew know and we'll find a role that is suitable for you!

Help is also needed at the Suffolk Open and JUVO. Volunteers are rewarded with food tokens and at JUVO you get a free T-shirt. Last year's design was rather cool!

Club clothing

I will have the club clothing that some of you have already ordered at our first outdoor sessions. If anyone else would like to order, please let me have your orders on or before our first outdoor session on Wednesday the 22nd of May. This will allow them to be ready for the Suffolk Open. The hoodies are like the navy one you see me wearing all the time with a large club logo on the back and small one on the front. The t-shirts are a lighter blue with the large club logo on the front, like this. Prices and sizes are shown below. If you want to order and are not going to see me before the 22nd, please send a cheque payable to Stowmarket Volleyball Club to me at 11 Bostock Road, Ipswich, IP2 8LP with a note saying what you want, what size for each item and for t-shirts whether you want straight or ladies fit.

Facebook and Twitter

Please help us publicise our outdoor sessions by liking our page on Facebook and sharing our posts or following us on Twitterand retweeting!

That's it for now, remember to let Andrew know if you want to order anything, enter any tournaments or help out in any way!

 

 

 

T-Shirt

Hoodie

Junior sizes

£9.50

£19

Adult sizes

£11.50

£23

 

The t-shirt sizes are as follows:

 

 

Straight

Ladies-fit

 

 

Chest

Size

Chest

Junior sizes

Age 7-8

30”

N/A

N/A

Age 9-11

32”

N/A

N/A

Age 12-13

34”

N/A

N/A

Adult sizes

XS

N/A

8

30”

S

34-36”

10

32”

M

38-40”

12

34”

L

42-44”

14

36”

XL

46-48”

16

38”

XXL

50”

18

40”

 

The hoodie chest sizes are as follows:

 

 

Chest

Junior sizes

Age 9-10

30”

Age 11-12

32”

Adult sizes

XS

34”

S

36”

M

38-40”

L

40-42”

XL

42-44”

XXL

44-46”

 

 

GB Beach Volleyball Player in Stowmarket ahead of Launch of Sunday Volleyball!

To help publicise the launch of the new Sunday Volleyball sessions at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre and as part of the Sporting Champions Olympic legacy programme, GB Beach Volleyball Player Lucy Boulton of Southend visited Stowmarket High School on Friday the 25th of January. During her visit she met students, gave a presentation covering the highs and lows of life as a professional athlete, took part in a Q&A session and led volleyball sessions along with coaches from Stowmarket Volleyball Club for some of the students.

Will Hopkin-Jones, from the Gipping Valley and Thurston School Sport Partnership who helped organise the afternoon said: “The event helped continue the success of the Olympics and build upon the legacy. The pupils were inspired and we hope that many who attended today will go on to experience volleyball in their local community.”

Lucy was equally enthused and said: “What a great afternoon, thanks to Suffolk Sport and Sporting Champions for getting me involved with this Sportivate project. I'm looking forward to returning to Stowmarket on Sunday where hopefully we will get even more people playing volleyball.”

Lucy, who is funded to train with her partner to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016, will give a talk on her life as a professional athlete and there will be a question and answer session with an opportunity for people to meet Lucy from 5:15pm in the bar at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre in Stowmarket. Everyone is welcome to this free talk. This will be followed by the launch of the Sunday Volleyball sessions at 6pm where adults and high school students will have the opportunity to learn from and play alongside Lucy.

Volleyball is loads of fun and a very social game. It's the only high-energy, zero body contact, mixed team sport you can play indoors and outdoors - whatever your ability. Whatever level you play at, volleyball can enhance your life, improving fitness and coordination. Now is a good a time as any to give volleyball a go and find out why it is one of the top three most-played sports in the world!

Whether you're a complete beginner and want to try the game for the first time, or you haven't played for a while and want to shed a pound or two after the Christmas festivities, these are the sessions for you!

The sessions will be suitable for adults and high school students and will cost £2 each for those aged 18 and under and £4 per session for those aged over 18. For details of sessions for younger players, please see the Juniors page of the club's website: www.stowmarket-volleyball.org.uk.

The sessions will be run with a fun atmosphere and led by Andrew Whitefield. They'll be on Sundays from 6-7pm at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre in Stowmarket. To join the sessions, people should come along to Reception at the Leisure Centre on the 27th and the staff will point you in the right direction. Please try to arrive ten minutes early for the first session so that we can make our introductions and get the most out of our hour on the court!

Pictures from the session on Friday with Stowmarket High School can be found here.

To be kept up to date with the latest news from Stowmarket Volleyball Club, find them on Facebook (Stowmarket Volleyball) or follow them on Twitter (@StowVC).

New for 2013! Sunday evening sessions

Stowmarket Volleyball Club will be running new volleyball sessions from Sunday the 27th of January. These sessions are being put on with funding from Sport England's Olympic legacy project, Sportivate which is driven locally by Suffolk Sport and with support from Volleyball England's Go Spike campaign.

Volleyball is loads of fun and a very social game. It's the only high-energy, zero body contact, mixed team sport you can play indoors and outdoors - whatever your ability. Whatever level you play at, volleyball can enhance your life, improving fitness and coordination. Now is a good a time as any to give volleyball a go and find out why it is one of the top three most-played sports in the world!

Whether you're a complete beginner and want to try the game for the first time, or you haven't played for a while and want to shed a pound or two after the Christmas festivities, these are the sessions for you!

These sessions will be suitable for adults and high school students and will cost £2 each for those aged 18 and under and £4 per session for those aged over 18. For details of our sessions for younger players, please see the Juniors page.

The sessions will be run with a fun atmosphere and led by Andrew Whitefield. They'll be from 6-7pm at Mid Suffolk Leisure Centre in Stowmarket. To join the sessions, just come along to Reception at the Leisure Centre on the 27th and the staff will point you in the right direction. Please try to arrive ten minutes early for the first session so that we can make our introductions and get the most out of our hour on the court! Those who are under 16 should bring a parent / guardian along to the start of their first session to complete a consent form, or request one from secretary@stowmarket-volleyball.org.uk for completion in advance.

To be kept up to date with the latest news from Stowmarket Volleyball Club, find us on Facebook (Stowmarket Volleyball) or follow us on Twitter (@StowVC).

Summer 2012 - Tuesdays - Outdoor Sessions on The Rec

Having won the Essex League and narrowly missed out on winning the Suffolk Cup in March, Stowmarket Volleyball Club are looking to get more people in the area playing over the summer so that they can go on to bigger and better things! From the 29th of May, the club will join forces with Stow Stingers, playing on The Rec on Tuesday evenings throughout the summer. Adults and high school students with and without volleyball experience are welcome to join us for these free sessions from 7pm until dusk.

There's plenty to look forward to over the summer, with the highlight being the Suffolk Open at Chilton Fields on the 17th of June. Twenty-eight teams from across the Eastern Region and beyond descended on Chilton Fields for the 2011 event and the Suffolk Volleyball Association is hoping for a similar turnout in 2012.

For more information (and to receive a weekly "Is it on?" text message), contact Andrew Whitefield via andrew@stowmarket-volleyball.org.uk, 01473 261865 weekdays daytime or evenings and weekends.

For a map showing the location of The Rec, click here.

Summer 2011 - Tuesdays - Outdoor Sessions on The Rec

Having reclaimed the Suffolk Cup in April, Stowmarket Volleyball Club are looking to get more people in the area playing over the summer so that they can go on to bigger and better things! From the 24th of May, the club will join forces with Stow Stingers, playing on The Rec on Tuesday evenings throughout the summer. Adults and high school students are welcome to join us for these free sessions from 7pm until dusk.

There's plenty to look forward to over the summer, with the Suffolk Open at Chilton Fields on the 12th of June, a charity tournament at Amberfield School in Nacton on the 26th and a community volleyball day, including a novice tournament, exhibition matches and have-a-go sessions on Saturday the 26th of July. That's not to mention tournaments in Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Cambridge and further afield!

For more information contact Andrew Whitefield (andrew@stowmarket-volleyball.org.uk, 01473 261865 weekdays daytime or 01473 687811 evenings and weekends). For a map showing the location of The Rec, click here.

Saturday 23rd July 2011 - Stowmarket Community Volleyball Day

To celebrate one year until the London Olympics, as part of the London 2012 Open Weekend, Stowmarket Volleyball Club will be hosting a big volleyball event on The Rec in Stowmarket on Saturday the 23rd of July.

The day will include:

4-a-side Fun Tournament

• Free!

• No experience necessary, bring your friends / workmates / family / sports team / pub

• The day will start with tournament registration at 10am followed by an introduction to the game and rules followed by qualifying rounds and finals, finishing around 4pm

• The tournament will be 4-a-side, with substitutions allowed. As this tournament is intended for people who are not already playing volleyball regularly, a maximum of one player per team who has played competitively in the last year will be permitted

• Enter the tournament by completing the entry form and sending it to us, the entry form says the deadline was Tuesday the 19th of July, but we are able to still accept entries - turn up at 10am on the day to register.

The day will also feature...

Exhibition Match

• Free!

• Suffolk Cup winners Stowmarket will be competing to show you the best volleyball Suffolk has on offer: Mark Ames and Jamie Fulinger vs. Kevin Kent and Chris Sherfield

• Planned for 12pm - exact time subject to weather...

Have a Go Sessions

• Free!

• Qualified coaches available throughout the day

Contact us for more details.

25th February 2011 Update: Sport Unlimited - Extended until 4th April

Stowmarket's volleyball clubs Sport Unlimited sessions for 15 to 19 year-olds have been extended up to and including the 4th of April. See below for more details. Plenty of time for any new people to come along and get involved!

January - March 2011: Sport Unlimited - Volleyball 15:19

Stowmarket's volleyball clubs' sessions for 15 to 19 year-olds are now underway. There's still space for more young people to come along and try this exciting Olympic sport. The mixed sessions run from 6-7:30pm on Monday evenings in the gym at Stowmarket Middle School, until the 4th of April (no sessions on 21st Feb or 7th March).

With two coaches at every session, players with all levels of experience from complete beginners onwards are welcome to come along to any session. Hopefully many of the participants will continue to play indoors, on grass, or even on the beach for Stow Stingers or Stowmarket VC.

Whether you want to improve your fitness in 2011, meet new people or learn something new, these sessions could be for you. Your first session will be free. After that it will be £2 per session.

For directions to the Middle School, see the Venues page. For more details,contact us.

January - March 2011: Free Coaching, Officiating and Club Development Courses for 16-25 Year-old Volunteers

Stowmarket Volleyball Club is one of 14 in the country that has been selected to offer young people a fantastic opportunity to train as a volleyball coach, official or to support a club. With funding from V-Inspired they are able to offer free coaching, officiating and club development courses, including transport and accommodation expenses, for the young volunteers (aged 16-25). The courses and are designed for people with no volleyball knowledge, but take you to a level that gives you a valuable qualification and the course fee for the coaching course alone is usually £200 before you consider transport and accommodation (the courses are not normally close to us).

Those people who choose to undertake the coaching strand will have two options: Leicester on Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th of January or Brighton on Saturday the 19th and Sunday the 20th of February. There is usually an assessment a couple of weeks later, but it is possible that this could be arranged closer to home. The officiating course will consist of a residential training weekend in Kettering from Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd January. Participants will undertake the Grade 4 refereeing course and line judging and scoring training. The club development course will also take place as residential course in Kettering from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th March. Participants will receive training on aspects such as website design and Club Mark accreditation.

Having any of these on your CV / application forms will look great as they show a willingness to make decisions, communicate and help others.

Volleyball England are asking for a £50 deposit before young volunteers are given a place on any of the courses. This will then be refunded once they have undertaken 20 hours of volunteering with a club. There will be plenty of opportunities with Stowmarket VC over the summer and possibly also with Suffolk's other clubs.

The deadline for applications is 1st January 2011, however, if you want to get on the Leicester coaching course, you should apply to Ilona Berry (i.berry@volleyballengland.org) right now.

This sort of funding opportunity doesn't come around very often, so if you're interested, go for it!