 Volleyball Ireland were one of the big winners as the Minister Shane Ross announces €4.5m of investment through the Dormant Accounts fund.
Volleyball has been awarded a total of €58,000, across two projects; The Aspire Graduate Programme and the Sports Inclusion Programme. ASPIRE GRADUATE PROGRAMME Sport Ireland will fund a number of NGBs to directly employ a graduate on the scheme for a fixed term basis (11 months). In addition, Sport Ireland would support the graduate scheme employees with mentoring, executive coaching and skills development training for the duration of the scheme, ensuring appropriate standards and quality of experience was provided for each employee and host NGB. It is anticipated that upon completion of the programme, each participant will have gained experience and skills development to ensure their likelihood of securing long term professional employment in the Irish sports sector is greatly increased. The Volleyball Ireland graduate will lead the development of participation raising programmes, with a specific focus on Third Level Education. Applications for the new position will open in due course. SPORTS INCLUSION FUND The Volleyball Ireland project will include the delivery of Sitting Volleyball for people with a physical disability, as well as a range of programmes for people with an intellectual disability. The programme will also have a focus upon initiating sustainable school-club links in areas of social disadvantage. Funding was made available to National Governing Bodies of Sport to support the National Physical Activity Plan under: Action 47 ‘Continue to support the work of the National Governing Bodies of sport in implementing programmes to promote physical activity’, Action 48 ‘Develop programmes to address transitions and drop out from physical activity and sport’ Action 49 ‘Extend existing and developing programmes for physical activity for people with disabilities and their families to enhance and deliver a comprehensive health and wellbeing programme’. Commenting on the award, General Manager, Gary Stewart said, “We are delighted to be amongst the big winners in the Dormant Accounts funding announcement. The programmes we can deliver through this investment will make a difference to people’s lives and strengthen our clubs and our sport. It is a great vote of confidence from Sport Ireland in terms of what we are doing as an NGB.” Both programmes will see Volleyball Ireland working with partners such as the Irish Wheelchair Association, Student Sport Ireland and a number of Local Sports Partnerships. Volleyball Ireland would like to thank Minister Ross, Minister Griffin and Sport Ireland for their support. Press Release: https://www.sportireland.ie/Media/Latest_News/Ministers%20Ross%20and%20Griffin%20announce%20Dormant%20Accounts%20Funding%20for%20Sport%20and%20Physical%20Activity%20Measures.html Funding Breakdown: https://www.sportireland.ie/Media/Latest_News/Breakdown%20of%20Dormant%20Accounts%20Funding.pdf 
Volleyball Ireland are delighted to announce a sponsorship agreement with food franchise Eddie Rockets. The American Style Diner will become the main partner of the Ireland Women’s U16s team as they compete in the CEV European Championships in January. The team are heading to the Faroe Islands where they will take on Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the hosts. The agreement will see the Eddie Rockets brand on the Training gear for the team. Commenting on the deal, General Manager of Volleyball Ireland, Gary Stewart said, “we are delighted that an Irish brand like Eddie Rockets is backing our girls. They’ve been training incredibly hard over the last year for this event and to receive such generous support from an Irish company is a real boost to them. It’s a nice fit when you look at where our Volleyball strongholds are and where Eddie Rockets Diners are located there’s a synergy and we hope the franchises can benefit as much as the team will from this.” The cost of competing is in the region of €16,000, of which the players and parents have raised a significant amount through an array of fundraising events. Volleyball Ireland would like to thank Eoin O’Reilly Marketing Manager of Eddie Rockets, Niall Fortune, Owner of Eddie Rockets and Liam Jones, Team Manager of the U16 girls who has played an integral park in securing the sponsorship. Eddie Rockets City Diner’s are located in the following areas: DUBLIN CITY CENTRE Dame Street, Point Square, O’ Connell Street, Parnell Centre, South Anne Street, Wexford Street DUBLIN Blackrock, Blanchardstown Centre, Charlestown SC, Finglas, Citywest Shopping Centre, Clare Hall, Donnybrook, Dundrum Town Centre, Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (Cinema Entrance), Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (Penney's Entrance), Omni Park Shopping Centre, Phibsborough Shopping Centre, Rathmines, Stillorgan Shopping Centre, Swords, Terenure, The Square Tallaght, Walkinstown. NATIONWIDE Arklow, Athlone, Belfast - Lisburn Road, Belfast - Boucher Crescent, Carlow, Celbridge, Drogheda, Kilkenny, Killarney, Lisburn, Mullingar, Naas, Navan, Portlaoise, Tullamore, Newry, Newbridge Waterford.  Board Vacancy; TREASURER (voluntary)
The Opportunity Volleyball Ireland is seeking a voluntary treasurer to join our dynamic board. This is a pivotal and exciting role that will help shape one of Ireland’s most diverse sports. Volleyball Ireland Volleyball Ireland was established in 1968, and this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. Currently employing 5 full time staff, Volleyball Ireland has ambitious plans for it’s future development in line with it’s new 4 year strategy – Raising the Game. Some other facts;
The Role The Treasurer will actively participate on the board, working in close partnership with the President, General Manager and other Board members of Volleyball Ireland to safeguard the organisation's finances. You will be responsible for ensuring that effective financial systems and procedures have been established, are being consistently followed and are in line with best practice & legal requirements. All board members receive a comprehensive induction pack. Main Responsibilities
Closing date for applications is 9:00am Monday 17th December 2018. Volleyball Ireland is an equal opportunities employer. Today, November 15th 2018 at 14:00 the 2018/19 Association Cup Draw took place in Volleyball Ireland Offices. Gary Stewart (General Manager of Volleyball Ireland) conducted the draw, which has produced some cracking ties and sets the stage for a truly competitive competition ahead. The full draws are available at the bottom of this page & a recap of both draws is also shown below. Womens Round 1 - 1.1 - 12/13 Jan - Munster Thunder vs DVC Lions Round 1 - 1.2 - 12/13 Jan - Santry D2W vs Naas Cobras Round 1 - 1.3 - 12/13 Jan - Santry D1W vs Tallaght Rockets Round 1 - 1.4 - 12/13 Jan - UCD vs Santry PW Cup QF - CupQF1 - 09/10 Feb - Gardians Patatas vs Winner 1.1 Cup QF - CupQF2 - 09/10 Feb - Galway VC vs Winner 1.2 Cup QF - CupQF3 - 09/10 Feb - TCD vs Winner 1.3 Cup QF - CupQF4 - 09/10 Feb - Dalkey Devils vs Winner 1.4 Mens Round 1 - 1.1 - 12/13 Jan - IT Carlow vs Aer Lingus Harriers Round 1 - 1.2 - 12/13 Jan - Santry D1M vs UCD Round 1 - 1.3 - 12/13 Jan - Galway VC vs Aer Lingus Masters Round 1 - 1.4 - 12/13 Jan - Balls of Anarchy vs Aer Lingus PM Round 1 - 1.5 - 12/13 Jan - Santry Eagles vs Gardians 5.0 Cup QF - CupQF1 - 9/10 Feb - DVC Bravo vs Winner 1.5 Cup QF - CupQF2 - 9/10 Feb - Tallaght Rockets vs Winner 1.4 Cup QF - CupQF3 - 9/10 Feb - TCD vs Winner 1.3 Cup QF - CupQF4 - 9/10 Feb - Winner 1.1 vs Winner 1.2
 Inland Beach Volleyball Application
Dublin City Council in partnership with Volleyball Ireland and the Beach Volleyball Commission (BVI) has submitted a Sports Capital Grant application to develop 3 inland Beach courts in Clontarf. The development will see competition standard sand, posts and surroundings to provide the best environment for our beach athletes to train and prepare. The centre will play a key part in transforming the sport and promoting further participation opportunities for existing players and beginners. Volleyball Ireland would like to pay tribute to the tireless volunteers on the Beach Commission who have driven the project for a number of years and continue to provide a range of events and programmes for members. Gary Stewart, General Manager of Volleyball Ireland said, “all sports are driven by volunteers and I am amazed by how much work the various commissions and board contribute to Volleyball. I would particularly like to thank Miriam Gormally and her team for driving this project that will transform beach volleyball in Ireland. It’s vital that we have facilities like this to allow a pathway from participation to performance.” Volleyball Ireland would also like to express its sincere gratitude to the team at Dublin City Council for their vast contribution to the project. This development would not be possible without their support and vision to improve facilities for the Dublin City residents. Gary added, “we are eternally grateful to DCC for supporting this project and in particular Darragh Cunningham and Antonia Martin from the Sports and Leisure dept for their continuing efforts to drive participation in partnership with Volleyball.” The project is worth in excess of €200,000, with a decision date of late Summer 2019. The Sports Capital Programme will see 40m of exchequer funding pumped into sports projects around Ireland. Volleyball Ireland also submitted a range of applications to upgrade indoor facilities and equipment pieces to kick start the development of new clubs in both Indoor and Beach Volleyball.  The Men's and Women's editions of the 2018/19 VAI Cup is open for registration. Club secretaries ONLY can complete the online form at ; https://goo.gl/forms/tFram3AdMzNL1tpo1
All clubs affiliated to Volleyball Ireland can enter the knock out competition. It is the perfect opportunity for recreational clubs to challenge themselves against the top National League teams in David v Goliath style battles. We are expecting one or two underdog stories as Garda VC and DVC defend their Women's and Men's titles respectively. Full details Dear Club Secretary, We are delighted to announce that online registration for the Association Cup 2018/19 is now available. Please find the link below: https://goo.gl/forms/tFram3AdMzNL1tpo1 Please note that your club must be affiliated with Volleyball Ireland to enter the Association Cup. If your club has not done so, please consider the advice contained alongside the online registration. The deadline for the submission of entries is Tuesday, 13 November 2018. We will provide you with further guidelines and timelines regarding when the specific rounds of the Cup and Shield must be played when we send out the draw. In any case we will run the competition on some or all of the following weekends – 1/2 December, 12/13 January, 9/10 February, 9/10 March. Fixtures held outside of these dates will require the Fixture Change protocol to be followed. The semi-finals of the Cup will be held on the weekend of the 30/31 March (separate communication regarding this event will follow in the coming days) and the Cup and Shield finals will be held as part of the Finals Weekend on 11/12 May 2019. We would also draw your attention to the following matters that will be in force again this season:
If you have any queries on this, please don’t hesitate to contact the office or the Competitions Commission directly. Jennifer Fitzgerald President, Competitions Commission competitions@volleyballireland.com  The first Volleyball Ireland Junior National League begins this weekend.
This league is the culmination of years of hard work developing schools and supporting clubs to establish youth sections. This development work, led by Conor Flood, included a number of blitzes, friendly competitions and coach education workshops to build a strong foundation of volleyball in strategic areas across the country. This weekend will see 13 teams compete in the inaugural competition at u18 age level. The girls league will kick start a competitive framework that will see additional age groups added over the coming years ensuring a strong pathway from schools participation to Adult National League Volleyball and ultimately the Irish National Team. General Manager of Volleyball Ireland, Gary Stewart said, “Our new strategic plan places the emphasis on developing new clubs and supporting existing clubs to build youth sections and expand their coaching and volunteer resources. The Junior National League is a great step and is testament to the hard work the board and staff have put in over recent years. Programmes like this are central to the good health of Volleyball in Ireland.” Volleyball Ireland will be replicating this model at different age groups and with a boys version. If any clubs are interested in taking part please contact cdo@volleyballireland.com to register your interest. There will be opportunities to participate in blitzes and fun tournaments over the season to get a taste of competitive Volleyball. The Development team are here to support clubs establish youth sections. Often there can be a mine field of policies and compliance involved when working with children – the team are here to support you through that and concentrate on the good stuff – Volleyball! A special Thank You to those clubs and tireless volunteers for supporting junior volleyball without your hard work and dedication this simply doesn’t happen. Our line-up for the first Junior National League; Galway Volleyball Club Newbridge Volleyball Club (Pumas and Tigers) Clare Volleyball Club Dalkey Volleyball Club Ennis Volleyball Club (Elites and Eagles) Naas Volleyball Club (Mambas and Vipers) Santry Volleyball Club Irish Emeralds u16 Craigavon Aztecs VC (NI) TDS (NI) Fixtures this weekend; Holy Family SS 3rd Nov 1130am Warm up Newbridge Pumas V Dalkey Newbridge Tigers V Santry Newbridge Pumas V Santry Newbridge Tigers V Dalkey Holy Family SS 3rd Nov 130pm Warm Up TDS V Ennis Elites Craigavon Aztecs V Ennis Eagles TDS V Ennis Eagles Craigavon Aztecs V Ennis Elites St Brigid’s College 4th Nov 2pm warm up Naas Vipers V Galway VC Irish Emeralds V Clare VC Naas Mambas V Clare VC Irish Emeralds V Galway VC Naas Mambas VS Galway VC Naas Vipers VS Clare Volleyball Volleyball Ireland has submitted two nationwide applications to the Dept. Transport, Tourism and Sport Sports Capital Grant Programme to support its member clubs.
The two projects are as follows;
The Net and Post Replacement Scheme has been initiated based on the Club Equipment Needs Audit carried out earlier this month. Within the audit it was clear that the most sought after equipment were posts and nets which often come into disrepair. The application would see a nationwide upgrade on these vital pieces of equipment. When in decline these can become a barrier to participation and cause potential health and safety issues. As part of the club development programme, members have highlighted these equipment issues as a priority. The second project will see new clubs, or existing clubs who wish to setup a youth section receive a starter pack of balls and equipment to support their development and grow participation. General Manager of Volleyball Ireland, Gary Stewart added, “As part of the Volleyball Ireland Strategic Plan, we want to encourage the launch of new clubs and help our current members to build youth sections to feed into our new National Youth League programme. The starter pack programme will be a big help to drive participation and support what is a fundamental part of growing the sport. Getting that initial money together to buy equipment is often the biggest barrier to participation.” The combined grant application is valued at over €45,000 – Volleyball Ireland is seeking a grant of €36,000 to deliver these projects. Volleyball Ireland also supported a number of equipment only applications from member clubs.   Global Volleyball legend and Olympic champion Vladimir Grbic, joined Volleyball Ireland to celebrate it’s 50th Anniversary. Grbic visited Ireland for 5 days delivering a series of coaching masterclasses for young players, as well as a QandA with a range of top Irish coaches. The trip is part of a strategy by Volleyball Ireland to up-skill players and coaches to improve the overall standards of Volleyball in the country. The Serbian delivered Volleyball workshops to the Irish Junior teams including the u16s Girls team who are preparing for the CEV Championships qualifying round in early 2019, as well as training with the Boys u12 training squad. Grbic also helped launched the CEV Schools Project in Ireland with a once-in-a-lifetime coaching experience for Sutton Park School. Prior to that he was working with a local Dublin school who are prioritising the development of Beach Volleyball. President of Volleyball Ireland, Grainne Culliton said, “Vladimir's coaching philosophy is inspirational. He emphasises the importance for children to be involved in sport for mental and physical reasons, and to keep them playing, the focus must be on them having fun so they want to come back again and again. We certainly hope he will come back to Ireland again soon”. Vladimir took time in his trip to visit the HQ of Special Olympics Europe/Asia for whom he is a global ambassador and his passion for working with children with special needs was evident. This was Ireland's first time to host an international volleyball super star, and it is hoped to do this again, to help in achieving the goals of the new Volleyball Ireland strategy to be launched later this month.
 Volleyball Ireland have received a grant of €2,600 to support the development of coaching courses. The funding will be used to host a series of workshops in late 2018 and 2019. The topics of these courses will focus on Speed and Agility, Coaching Children as well as technical skill specific workshops.
The support has already helped subsidise the cost of 25 new Foundation level coaches and 17 new Level 1 coaches who were trained over the last 6 weeks. It is hoped our newly up-skilled coaches will support the implementation of a brand new u18 Junior National League. General Manager of Volleyball Ireland, Gary Stewart said, “We’d like to thank the FIVB for their support in helping up skill our coaching workforce – quality coaching is at the heart of player and participation development. It all links nicely, the FIVB are supporting our coaching programme and the CEV are investing heavily in our Schools. And as an NGB we have a big focus on supporting the clubs. Those are really three key elements of the new strategic plan. We are indebted to the Coaching Commission for the tireless work putting the various syllabuses and modules together, as well as their delivery.” More information on the coaching workshops will be announced in the next few weeks. Keep an eye on volleyballireland.com In order for minors to complete the Sport Ireland Anti-Doping online course parents/guardians need to contact Rachel Maguire of Sport Ireland (rmaguire@sportireland.ie) and CC Jessie Carmody (jessie@volleyballireland.com) to create a profile with the parents/guardians email address so the minor can do the course.
Login details will then be sent to the parents/guardians email address.
 We would like to extend an invitation to young and old, regardless of your level of volleyball expertise, to come and participate in, and celebrate our 50th anniversary at a tournament to be held over the bank holiday weekend on 26, 27 and 28th October in ALSAA near Dublin Airport. (http://www.alsaa.ie/location).
Category 1 Entries: All Division 1 and 2 women, Division 1 men, Premier Women and Premier Men must have an appropriately qualified registered referee as part of their entry. Category 2 Entries: Junior and Masters Teams do not have to fulfil the requirement of having an appropriately qualified registered referee on entry. The entry fee per team is €50. Please note that if you fall into Category 1 and you don’t have an appropriately qualified registered referee on entry then your entry fee will be €75. How To Enter: There are two online entry options to choose from when you have gathered your team, please see details below and only choose one option depending on whether you will have a National League Referee available as part of your team and the entry fee will differ based on this. Entry is open to all: Juniors – under the age of 18 Masters – age 35+ (40+ if you are a Premier Player) League teams with Volleyball Ireland for 2018/2019 or other teams who may choose to enter these categories. Entries close on 10th October, so dust off your kneepads, dig out those headbands and gather those aspiring volleyball players to form a team and join in the fun! Entry forms can be found here. Options on Entry as follows (only one option must be chosen for each team entered): Option 1 Entry Fee if you have a National League Referee available - €50
Option 2 Entry Fee if you have do not have a National League Referee - €75
There will be a social function in ALSAA on Saturday evening after the tournament finishes – please make a note in your diary!
Welcome back to the new school term, we hope you enjoyed the summer holidays and are now looking forward to the year ahead. We invite you to register with Volleyball Ireland for this upcoming school year. All forms have now moved online so please click on the player reg button below to access affiliation and team entry forms. All coaches please take special note of the deadlines for competitions during registration as they will be strictly adhered to. Thank you and have a great year  Primary Schools
2018 Star Programme – Mini Spikers! The Mini Spikers Programme is an introductory Volleyball Programme targeting 6 to 9-year-old children. The overall aim of the programme is to develop children’s Fundamental Movement Skills through a variety of FUN activities and provide an age appropriate FUN introduction to the game of Volleyball. The Mini Spikers game is a simple adapted game that is presented and taught through three stages (Mini Stars, Super Stars and Mega Stars) preparing players to progress onto playing SpikeBall and Volleyball. We are delighted to announce that this year we will run our first ever Mini Spikers Tournament. The deadline for team entries is April 12th with the competition taking place in May 2019. Any school that affiliates with Volleyball Ireland will receive downloadable PDF Mini Spikers workbook which include lesson plans and lots of FUN games. If you would like any more information about Mini-Spikers, please contact Jessie Carmody at jessie@volleyballireland.com SpikeBall SpikeBall is an adapted Volleyball game that was developed to provide children with a FUN introduction to Volleyball. The main objective of SpikeBall is to encourage more children to participate in sport in an enjoyable way. Come join almost 400 other national school teams to take part in your local county blitz finals. For any help or queries you may have in starting up SpikeBall in your school please contact Conor at cdo@volleyballireland.com Secondary Schools SpikeBall (1st & 2nd Years) or Volleyball (all age groups) Schools can introduce this exciting adapted version of volleyball through our easy to learn, easy to play, intro game of SpikeBall. Volleyball Ireland are ready to start your school on the volleyball pathway. For any further queries or help you may need please contact Conor at cdo@volleyballireland.com 2018 Star Programme – TY Volley After the hugely successful Women in Sport TY programme, we are introducing TY Volley. Ty Volley is a Transition Year Volleyball programme for girls and boys (minimum of 12 per group). The students are trained up as volleyball coaches. They deliver a 6-week introduction to mini volleyball programme to 1st or 2nd year students in their school. The TY leaders will run a blitz in their school for all the students that they have coached. The TY leaders can then enter teams into the TY Volley national blitz which will run between April and May 2019 (depending on the number of team entries).  What is Social Volley?
Social Volley is a concept to break down the barriers of entry to volleyball and bring people who have never played volleyball before or played ‘years ago in school’ together to play in a fun, social and welcoming environment. What to Expect Social Volley is casual and more about fun and being active, it’s a team sport so you are bound to make many friends too! (Not so serious) Training can be provided so participants will be able to play the, Dig, Volley and Spike and understand the basic rules of the game. Who it’s for If you are over 18 and have ever wanted to try volleyball or wanted to ease back into it or don’t play much sports, Social Volley is perfect for you. Bring a friend, colleague, relative or whoever you want to spend time with. The group will be mixed. Some More Information Social Volley can be played on a volleyball court 6v6 or on a badminton court 4v4 as mixed sex. The ‘not so serious’ training can be tailored to the needs or the group or can opt for more game time. The Difference between Social Volley and Mainstream Volleyball Our volleyball clubs are competitive and have been playing the very technical and tactical sport for years. Although some of our clubs offer training for beginners it can be quite intimidating to go straight into a club. Social Volley offers the same sport but for people in the same boat. Players are then encouraged to move on to a club if they want to challenge themselves more or if they want to move on to more competitive volleyball. How to get Involved We will be looking for areas to setup Social Volley and will advertise it locally. If you want to get Social Volley up and running in your area or wish to join in in an existing Social Volley area contact, Norma on 086 817 3990 or norma@volleybllireland.com What is the Fee? This will depend on the cost of the hall. We aim to keep the fee as minimal as possible. Below is the process for player registrations for 2018/19
If you need any assistance while registering please do not hesitate to contact myself through email or phone 01 670 7165. Volleyball Ireland will participate this week at the CEV SCD Beach Finals in Vaduz, Liechtenstein from Thursday 2nd - Sunday 5th August. We will be given player profiles of players over the next number of days which you can find below.    Registrations for 2018/19 Refere Courses are now open.
Please visit www.volleyballireland.com/referees.html to register for one of the below courses.
 Santry Volleyball Club were presented with the Bronze Clubmark Award at the AGM in May 2018. Gary Stewart presented the award which was accepted by Heloise on behalf of the club and committee. The committee worked tirelessly over a couple of months to implement policies and procedures, develop their coaches, referees and volunteers and also created a 3 year development plan to grow the club further. Here's what Dovile Janusauskaite, Chairperson of Santry VC said about the programme and experience.
"Our experience with the Clubmark Programme is certainly more than positive! Perfect guidelines that are easy to follow and a lot of material available that helped us to go through the process swiftly and with a minimum effort required. It allowed us to identify gaps and have effective plans in place for further Santry VC club development. A special thank you to Norma for her super guidance and all the hand holding that helped us to achieve results to date. We hope that individuals and Santry VC as a club will grow more in coming years!" VI Clubmark Programme is designed to support and develop clubs in various areas. The programme rewards those who meet the minimum standards set and encourages clubs to continually develop. The VI provide support and resources to ensure clubs are on the right track towards accreditation. Below are the areas that the club will have to meet the minimum standards
The programme aims to help clubs improve their club structure and ensure formalities and policies are in place. As well as the opportunity for volunteers to begin the referee and coaching pathway. The programme covers a lot of important areas within clubs (including legal requirements such as Garda Vetting and Children Safety) and once completed will ensure clubs are up-to-date and in a strong and sustainable position. Clubs will be given access to the Clubmark Dropbox where they will be able to download templates and view other resources which will guide them. VI recommend that existing and new clubs use the programme as a check-list. Do you want to be the next Bronze Accredited Clubmark Club? Contact Norma on 086 817 3990 or east@volleyballrieland.com for more information!  An Irish Volleyball team will compete in the European Championships for the first time.
In January 2019, a 12-strong Girls U16 squad will head to the Faroe Islands to compete against Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Finland and the hosts for a place in the main draw of the prestigious Confederation of European Volleyball (CEV) Championships. This is the first time in history an Irish youth team has entered an International Governing Body event – and is testament to the strides Volleyball Ireland are making in youth development. The National Squad programme was the brainchild of coaches Gianni Massa and Jenny King – a former Irish International herself – who setup the programme three years ago to develop the next generation of International players. King said, “There’s a great history of Volleyball in Ireland, and there is lots of activity happening in schools. This programme was a way of developing and inspiring the girls to keep playing, training and leading an active healthy lifestyle. It’s a great opportunity for the girls to live everyone’s dream and play for their country.” The team have been training in all corners of Ireland with full day training camps on a regular basis. Some of the group are also off to Sardinia to hone their technical skills in the hometown of Head Coach Massa, alongside world class Italian Volleyball coaches and players. One barrier to International Competition is the cost of competing – participation in the Championships is expected to cost in the region of €20,000. With parents and players fundraising within their local areas. The group have even setup a Crowdfunding page with Irish company PledgeSports – this allows anyone to make a donation to offset the costs of flights, accommodation and training equipment. https://www.pledgesports.org/projects/get-our-girls-to-faroe/ There are a range of partnership opportunities for business to become involved in sponsoring the team including a Main Team Sponsorship package and Team Partners. For more information on Sponsorship packages please contact Gary Stewart, General Manager, Volleyball Ireland. gm@volleyballireland.com Ends. Further Info: Globally, Volleyball is one of the world’s most popular sports with an estimated 998 million players across six continents. Volleyball Ireland is the National Governing Body of Volleyball in the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. Over 12,000 children participate in the Volleyball Ireland National Schools Programme. 951 school teams entered the 2017-18 National Cup competition. 61 different nationalities make up the registered adult playing pool within Ireland – making Volleyball one of the most diverse sports in Ireland. Volleyball is a key recipient of Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport grant programme. Volleyball is one of the few sports where more women participate than men in Ireland (ratio: 43-57). |
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December 2018
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