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Volleyball Ireland welcomes the news of a 10k increase to its Core Grant for 2020, taking the total amount to €210,000 for the year.
Today, Sport Ireland announced a 36 million euro package for National Governing Bodies of Sport, High Performance Sport and Local Sports Partnerships for the coming year. Speaking at the announcement, Sport Ireland CEO, John Treacy said, "Sport Ireland is delighted to be in a position to provide the majority of performing NGBs and LSPs with another increase in funding for 2020." The overall package includes over 10 Million to support the Olympic and Paralympic Athletes ahead of the Tokyo Games. The increased core grant funding means that Volleyball Ireland's Government grant support has now risen to 270k, broken down as follows: 210,000 - core activities 25,000 - women in sport specific programmes 35,000 - inclusion specific programmes Volleyball Ireland will shortly be announcing details of a Volleyball Activator programme to help support clubs to run social and recreational volleyball programmes, as well as setup youth sections. Commenting on the announcement, Volleyball Ireland GM, Gary Stewart added, "We're delighted to see an increase to our core grant and other Sport Ireland funding supports - it's great recognition of the hard work that clubs, volunteers, coaches, commissions and players are putting in across the country. We've made some great progress in 2019 towards our strategic goals and look forward to using this money on some exciting programmes in 2020." Click the below buttons to open a step-by-step guide in uploading your Garda Vetting and Safeguarding Credentials to your profile on GoMembership. This is a requirement for Referees and Coaches coaching U18s.
If you have any further questions contact vetting@volleyballireland.com or nco@volleyballireland.com Volleyball Ireland are looking for a Beach Volleyball National Team Head Coach. The position is voluntary, with the following key responsibilities:
Other aspects of the role include;
The successful candidate must: • Be a registered Volleyball Ireland Coach, or be willing to become one upon appointment • Have completed a Safeguarding and Protecting Children workshop, or be willing to complete upon appointment • Ideally hold a recognised Volleyball coaching award or equivalent qualification. APPLICATION PROCESS Please send a 1 page cover letter and accompanying CV outlining your suitability to the role to gm@volleyballireland.com no later than midday January 30th 2020 
 The 2020 Volleyball Ireland Championships will be held at Gormanston Park on Saturday 29th of Feb & Sunday 1st of March.
Team lists must be submitted by Monday 24th February with all players registered before that date. Please note NO PREMIER DIVISION registered players can participate. If you wish to book accommodation for Gormanston please contact Sorina sorina@gormanstonpark.ie to avail of a discounted rate secured by Volleyball Ireland. Rates can be found here. As part of the CEV’s #1daymore4volleyball campaign, The Championships will feature some innovative challenges between matches to keep all players entertained during matches. Please keep a keen eye on our social media channels for other ways in which you can support this ‘leap day’ promotion. We look forward to seeing you for what is always a great weekend of Volleyball action.  The Cadets are back! January 22nd @ NUIG Kingfisher Galway. We go again for national glory and bragging rights for 2020. Here is a little update on how this year's finals are looking.
U16 Girl A Final = Holy Family SS, Newbridge VS St Mary’s College, Naas There are very few derbies in Irish Volleyball like Holy Family SS VS St Mary’s College, Naas. These two Kildare teams have been at the top level competing against each for trophy after trophy, year after year and they renew that rivalry again as our first match of the finals. Holy Family A girls continue their fantastic journey with yet another final. The team is still unbeaten in school’s competition but will not be taking anything lightly in NUIG. It will be up to St Mary’s to put a stop to their winning streak and with the experience of so many finals behind the school it will be a tough call come Wednesday on the victors. U16 B Girl Final = Holy Family SS, Newbridge VS Scoil Mhuire, Strokestown The B final will be contested by Scoil Mhuire of Strokestown and a second Holy Family SS team This is Scoil Mhuire’s third final in just two years. Thus demonstrating the growth and development of volleyball within the school. Unfortunately for them they have lost in the last two finals, so they will be hoping for a case of third time lucky for Scoil Mhuire. The Strokestown U16 team have made an incredible leap from last year’s C final to this year’s B final showing the amount of work put in by coach and students. They will have to overcome Holy Family second team in this B final. Make no mistake though they may be slightly younger than the A girls but again no stranger to national titles as they took home the junior Cup last year in UL. The Holy Family girls are closely linked to the ever-growing Newbridge volleyball club and under the fine guidance of the coaches there and in school they will be a well drilled team and aiming for gold. U16 C Girl Final – Ardscoil Mhuire, Ballinalsoe VS Grange Community College, Dublin Grange CC find themselves in their first ever national girl final. The team have been showing good form throughout the tournament and with just one game left for the championship they will be hoping all players are firing the Dublin school to glory on the 22nd. ASM Ballinasloe have had their fair share of wins in junior competitions and we only have to go back to 16/17 to see their last outing at a cadet final. However, that didn’t end so well for the girls just losing out 25-21, 25-23. Could this be the year for the East Galway School! U16 Boys A = Elphin Community College, Roscommon VS Drumshanbo VC or Sutton Park School Elphin CC have made their way into an U16 Boys A final after an incredible 15 years absence. They turned it on in the semi-finals to come back from a set down and overcome St Brigid’s College to book their place. That last final back in 04/05 that Elphin competed in, they won against Brigid’s. Could this be an omen for the Rossies? They will have to get past either Sutton Park School or Drumshanbo VC. (game delayed due to Storm Brendan) Drumshanbo, a school very much at home in national finals and a serious volleyball tradition will be looking to restore pride after losing this U16 final last year but also a Senior final just at the end of 2019. As for Sutton Park if they can win out the semi, they will also be one of the schools that find themselves in new and exciting position of a Boys A final for the first time. U16 Boys B-=St Brigid's College, Loughrea VS Patrician Presentation, Fethard. St Brigid’s College will be represented in the U16 Boys B for a remarkable 9 of the last 10 years. Although they have won 8 of those it was only last year that they lost their first final of that decade. The school will be looking to take back what they feel is rightfully theirs come finals day. They will face off against Patrician Presentation. The Tipperary school will be buzzing after they sealed a Girls B championship in UCD back in December. They would love to add the boys cup to that cabinet. These schools are both regulars at semi-final and final stages. In this particular competition we only have to go back two years ago when both competed against each other at the final stage. That time the Galway school won but it’s a new year and that game won’t mean much come next week.  The new year means primary school volleyball is gearing up. This year there have been 2 important changes to the primary structure.
1- The introduction of a volley on the second touch now means players can twist and move eliminating any queries around that particular rule. This also ensures children are performing the necessary skills needed in volleyball more often. 2- A huge step towards developing volleyball further at a primary level is to bring the game directly to the students. Our player pathway throughout primary is now- Mini-Spikers (1st -3rd class) SpikeBall (4th -5th class) and now Volleyball (5th -6th class). Giving opportunities to all ages and levels Today January 7th started off our first Mini-Spikers & SpikeBall fun blitzes. We are visiting Limerick, Kilkenny, Bishopstown, Bandon, Killarney, Roscommon, Gormanston, Tipperary, and Portlaoise over the next month to expose the sport to over a thousand new players. These events will allow for a fun and relaxed engagement with the sport and also as preparation for those teams eyeing up National glory in the Volleyball Championships beginning March 2020. Registrations are still open for some of the blitzes and the Volleyball Championships If you have any questions on primary school events please contact Conor - cdo@volleyballireland.com or visit our website for more info. www.volleyballireland.com. Welcome to 2020, As we embark on another exciting year for Irish Volleyball, it's a good time to take a step back and review the achievements of 2019. As you can see from the summary below, the work has been vast, varied and in some cases pretty historic. It really has been a great year as we hosted an Olympic Qualifier in Beach Volleyball, entered three CEV Zonal competitions and established a progressive twinning project with our new friends in Narbonne. We also launched a brand new u16 Girls league. As always, these results are down to the hard work and vision of Volleyball volunteers, commissions, clubs and coaches across the country. We also spent a lot of time fine tuning a new Constitution and Articles of Association for the organisation. Whilst for many, this isn't the most glamorous part of Volleyball it is really important in helping lay strong foundations for the future, ensuring our governance is fit for purpose. Participation is increasing across the sport, with numbers playing in recreational events almost doubling on last year. We also welcomed two new clubs to the National League with the Spartans and Smashers from Kilkenny and Longford joining the family. A really positive part of the year has been the progress of our National teams with the Snr Women's team finishing 5th in the Small Countries Association Competition, whilst our u16 Girls played in both the Faroe Islands (beating Iceland) and then as an u17 team in Denmark. They also went to Italy for a training camp where they came up against some of the best junior players in Europe from Italy, Russia and Slovenia. The hard work that these girls and their coaches have put in has been inspiring. The boys are making great progress with an innovative twinning project with the professional club of Narbonne, France providing super opportunities for the lads to experience a top level environment. The u20 finished third in the Flying Scots Tournament and will compete this Spring in Luxembourg full of confidence. One my favourite events of 2019 was the 'Friendship' tournament held in Gormanston that included teams from across Ireland, NIR and Denmark. This was a great success and the concept will grow in 2020. The idea is that it provides a 'taste' of what Intl events are like. We have seen an increase in grants coming into the sport with success acquiring sports capital funds, support from the Olympic Federation and of course continued help from Sport Ireland and the CEV. We also attracted several new sponsors for our teams and competitions including Eddie Rockets, Wed Consulting, O'Driscoll O'neill Insurance and Meath CoCo. This shows our funders see real value in our vision to create opportunities for everyone in Volleyball to reach their potential. We were delighted that Vinnie Dos Santos was recently selected to attend the FIVB Intl Referees course in Turkey. This experience will help us train and up skill more officials here in Ireland. Vinnie has visited four countries in 2019 through Volleyball - it really demonstrates that there is a pathway for referees to progress. We are determined to support our coaches as well, with the launch of the Masterclass series that will provide continuous training and education. Later this month we will have details of another addition to this programme. Away from the court we have introduced an online registration system which will make life easier for players to register and for club secretaries to administer. This was a big project and we hope it will be a useful tool for you for future years. We've increased our social media work this year, publishing a lot more content of a better quality across different platforms. Please share our facebook, twitter, instagram, youtube and linkedin pages and of course the Monster Block newsletter to your friends and colleagues, it will help us share the great stuff that you're doing. Listening to and learning from our members is of key importance to Volleyball Ireland, and in Spring we introduced a stakeholder survey that has given us a range of great ideas to improve what we do. You'll be seeing some of these in action later this year. In the meantime, if anyone has any feedback or ideas to help us improve, or you want to get involved in a voluntary capacity, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Thank you again for all you have contributed to Volleyball in the last twelve months. Let's have another great year. Best Wishes and Happy New Year. Gary, Gary Stewart General Manager gm@volleyballireland.com  Volleyball Ireland were delighted to welcome the inspiring Belgian Coach Kristof de Loose to Dublin for the latest instalment of The Coaching Masterclass series. De Loose, delivered a Coaches session on Thursday evening which included an overview of the 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 pathway that exists in Belgium. The emphasis being on three key elements; FUN, MOVEMENT and LEARNING. 20 coaches from a variety of clubs were represented including Ballymun, Newbridge, Naas, Santry, Tallaght Rockets, Dalkey Devils and Aer Lingus. After the theoretical elements the coaches were made to sweat as Kristof delivered a typical session for the group. Kristof's presentation can be found at the bottom of the page and we recommend interested coaches follow the Start2Volley facebook page for videos and posts. The following day Kristof delivered a teacher training workshop as part of the CEV Schools Project development day with South Dublin Sports Partnership. 16 teachers attended from 8 different schools who will be delivering Volleyball for the first time. The feedback from the event has been universally positive and Volleyball Ireland would like to thank Kristof, Vuk Karanovic and Francois Watthez from the CEV for their support delivering the event.
 Volleyball Ireland are delighted to support Vinnie Dos Santos attend the FIVB Intl Referees Course.
The DVC club man jetted off to Ankara, Turkey earlier this week to participate on the intensive week long course. The experience includes a mix of examinations, practical assessments and peer learning with 20 other referees from a range of Federations. Speaking from Ankara Vinnie said, “I’m delighted to be chosen to Volleyball Ireland and the CEV to attend the Intl Referees Course. It’s a great opportunity and I hope to bring back new ideas, knowledge and experience to help other referees in Ireland. The course so far has been tough, intense and lots of hard work but it’s a really positive environment to learn in.” There were almost 50 applications for the course, with the final list dominated by representatives from more developed National Federations and Professional Leagues. Talking about the project, VI President Grainne Culliton said, “It is a key part of our strategy to support all within the Volleyball community reach their potential and this includes referees. Hopefully this can show there is a pathway for referees and like players and coaches, we will help people get to the very top.” Dos Santos, has also refereed in Faroe Islands, Denmark and Luxembourg this year alone, this and Pamela O'Donnell's experience at the Special Olympics World Games in Dubai shows there is an opportunity for Referees to represent Ireland on the global stage. The course is part of a plan to up skill and educate referees and coaches, with an International Coaching Programme for Coaches soon to be announced for 2020. Volleyball Ireland would like to thank the CEV for supporting the application, as well as the FIVB for their support with the training and mentoring of Vinnie.
Senior B Girls Final, Scoil Mhuire Strokestown V Partrician Presentation Fethard Scoil Mhuire came up from Senior C last year with Patrician Presentation of Fethard, Tipperary joining them from the other direction. In fact this was the first team the teams would have faced each other. Fethard stormed ahead and took the first 25-19 with Lucy Spillane and Carrie Nolan strong. But Strokestown soon hit back playing some super three touch volleyball to take it level in a tight second set 25-23. Lauren Shanagher was impressive throughout the match getting the Roscommon team over the line and into the third set, in fact Shanagher’s performance earnt her a well deserved MVP award. However the Tipperary team just too strong in the end and won the decider 25-18. MVP – Lauren Shanagher, Scoil Mhuire Senior B Boys Final, Colaiste An Eachreidh V Grange CC Another final went the distance with Colaiste an Eachreidh of Athenry winning in three sets against a spirited Grange Community College of Donaghmede, Dublin. In fact, it was the Galway sides second victory in three years at this level and a nice touch was that several of the 2017 champions returned to support their understudies. For Grange, it was the first ever National Final, in Volleyball at least – they had rushed from the National Basketball Arena where they competed earlier that day. In fact, Grange are a success story in Schools Volleyball with several teams reaching the latter stages of a variety of Competitions – the North Dublin area is becoming a hot bed. Colaiste an Eachreidh started the stronger but the first set was tight, before they pulled away with John Gray excelling in the centre of the court. He was ably supported by Sean O’Brien and Culann Stevens. After a strong comeback from Grange they took the first 25-21. The second was very much the opposite with Grange getting and staying in front – it seemed the transition from slam dunking to spiking was complete with the inspirational captain Tomasz Nowakowski dominating. In fact, the Dubliners strolled to a 17-25 win. That set the scene for the best of 3 decider – with Colaiste relying on a little more experience to edge an intriguing encounter 25-22. Congratulations to Coach Sean O’Brien and his team who are working with Volleyball Ireland Development Officer Conor Flood, to establish a new club in East Galway. MVP – Tomasz Nowakowski, Grange CC Senior C Girls Final, Elphin CC, Roscommon V St Leos College, Carlow The only match that didn’t go the distance in a wonderful Senior Schools Finals day was the encounter between Elphin and St Leos. In a relatively tight first set Elphin just about kept their necks in front running out 25-21 winners. Emily Keane and Chloe Higgins were the foundations of most things Elphin did well. The second and final set was much more one sided as Elphin steam rolled to a 25-8 win, despite the best efforts of the Gaffney sisters Lan & Lily. Both Schools have huge volleyball traditions and have been playing for a long time now. Elphin’s new head coach Kyra Wildy, claimed her first trophy at Elphin. St Leo’s have been represented in numerous finals over the last few years across divisions but this time just came up against a strong Elphin side. For most of the Leo’s team that was their second final in two years, with both ending in defeat but the improvement in the team has been clear. They are certainly to be kept an eye on in 2020. MVP – Ellen Tiernan, Elphin. The CEV Schools project is a programme of Volleyball development aimed at linking primary and post primary schools with Volleyball Ireland affiliated clubs. The programme uses a mix of teacher training, equipment and fun events to inspire children into Volleyball. A great example of this was a recent event delivered in conjunction with South Dublin Sports Partnership. On Friday 13th December, 130 children took part in Volleyball for the first time. This is how it works... 1045: Children arrive and are allocated one ball between two players. The idea is to get as many touches of the ball as possible, but more importantly have fun! 1050: Children participate in a 30mins fun movement and ball confidence session. Working in pairs they carry out a range of fun games and activities that uses multiple touches of the ball. Teachers take part in this part too. 1120: The Children now move into more skill specific activities, seeing demonstrations of the pass, volley and spike from VI Development Officers. They work for 10mins on each skill. During this time the teachers are receiving some teacher training of their own. 12:00 After a quick break the participants move into 3v3 throw and catch Volleyball, ably assisted by Transition Year Students. 12:30: Once they have a grasp of the game it’s time for more fun – we now move into a special Glow in the Dark Volleyball activity provided by SDCC. 13:15: The kids and teachers depart exhausted but with smiles on their faces. Commenting on the programme Deirdre Kelly of St Peter Apostle SNS said, "Kristof explained at the beginning that the content of the day was to ensure that all children were having fun, moving & learning a new skill. He demonstrated skills, kids practiced & then he moved on to the next skill. This was highly effective & he reinforced everything in the teacher training session later in the day. The whole day was fun & active & time flew by. The glow session at the end was brilliant. Volleyball is an excellent sport for children of all abilities, the non contact element is more inclusive than other sports & the passing promotes great team work. I play volleyball with my classes & it never results in arguments among the kids & I generally have full participation." What happens next: Each teacher is given lesson plans for 8 weeks, this will help them continue teaching Volleyball in school. At the end of the 8 week block, each school participates in a fun Volleyball blitz. During this time Volleyball Ireland works with local clubs to host weekly junior sessions – creating a transition and link from School to Club. If you want to get involved as a School or club contact Conor cdo@volleyballireland.com (in the west) or Norma Norma@volleyballireland.com (in the East).  Galway VC are the latest club to complete the Volleyball Ireland Clubmark Programme and achieve Clubmark status. The club ran Sitting Volleyball sessions, setup a junior club and created a link with a local school with Coach Lee delivering weekly sessions.
The Volleyball Ireland 2019/20 Senior Schools Cup Finals exceeded any expectations with excitement, energy and downright drama throughout. Two Hollywood-esque come backs from the cliff edge of defeat made for a thrilling day of School Volleyball with successes from St Flannans and Colaiste Mhuire taking the trophies back to Ennis, Co Clare.
Senior A Girls Final First up was the Girls Senior A Final where last years Senior B winners Rockford Manor raced into a 2set lead. Led by the u17 National Coach Gianni Massa, the Dubliners were well organised and ruthless in attack. DVC player Laura Connolly the standout player early on. In the third set Rockford were 22-20 up, and in control but write the Banner off at your peril. MVP Una Ni Choileain led by example and some fierce serving from Serodie Luyindaladio wrestled the set back and got the Ennis team started. By the middle of the fourth you can sense momentum changing and Colaiste took the game to a 5th with ease. Maria Jones, was hitting well from the middle ably supported by Edith Kearney. The crowd were vociferous throughout, adding atmosphere to one of the best Schools Finals in history. The final set was back and forth and with tiring legs on both sides, and despite some heroics from captain Lauren Hayes it was the experience of Colaiste that ran out, taking the decider 15-13 to win successive Colaiste Mhuire beat Rockford Manor (16-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-13). Colaiste Mhuire 3 E Kearney 4 E Kilroy 12 E Ikiebley 8 L Keane 5 M Jones 6 R Moore 10 S Luyindaladio 7 U Ni Choileain Rockford Manor 26 L Hayes 25 A lo Giudice 19 C Robbiati 15 J Sophie 18 K Tabea Kley 9 L Racanella 24 M Chiara 7 N Bolger 2 V Biazzia 4 A Hoskins 12 L Connolly Senior A Boys Final Matching the girls final was going to be nigh on impossible, but the boys did just that as St Flannans and Drumshanbo Vocational School of Leitrim battled out another gigantic tussle. There were star studded names on both side of the net with Cian Humphreys and Cathal Dwyer of Munster Thunder and St Flannans doing battle with Gareth Gilmartin and the impressive Peter Winters of DVS. In fact, it was Gilmartin who despite the defeat claimed the MVP award with an assured performance leading from the front. The team in red & white, like Rockford Manor previously, started strong and comfortably took the first set 25-18. But Flannans, who looked a little nervy in the first struck back with some hard hitting at the net running out winners 25-16 and it looked like they would go on and cruise to victory. However, if one thing Drumshanbo have, it is spirit and with Gilmartin showing his leadership skills they wrestled back control clinching a tight third by three points. The fourth set see-sawed, with DVS edging ahead again before Flannans, somehow saved two match points and took the game all the way with a 26-24 win. Flannans gained control early in the decider with Jesus Quaye Saya coming to the fore and dictating play. With the ever impressive Dwyer and his aggressive attacking hitting some ferocious spikes Flannans ran out 15-10 winners and took the second Senior title back to County Clare. It was another year of heartbreak for the Leitrim team who fell at the same stage last year to rivals St Brigids of Loughrea. Hopefully, they can take some pride from the part they played in a fantastic final. Gareth Gilmartin took the MVP award and bows out after a wonderful Schools Volleyball career. St Flannans beat Drumshanbo VS, (18-25, 25-16, 22-25, 26-24, 15-10 in 1hr 32mins) Teams St Flannans 1 C Humphreys 6 A Lima 4 B Higgins 7 C O’Riordain 9 J Q Saya 2 J Browne 5 Ciaran Jones 11 P Kennedy 12 C Dwyer Drumshanbo VS 1 G Gilmartin 4 E Moran 7 P Winters 6 Ronan Moran 11 D McWeeney 13 C McGourty 12 E Foley 14 B McWeeney 9 B Gunning Reviews of the Snr B and C Finals will follow shortly.  Level: Foundation
When: Jan 25th 2020 Where: UCD, Dublin Price: €50 adults, €45 concessions * Booking: www.volleyballireland.com/coaches Info: The Foundation course is perfect for those wishing to begin their coaching journey. The one day course provides an introduction to coaching principles and guidance on how to coach correct techniques. *Clubs with affiliated and competing youth sections are entitled to receive a complimentary place on this course. Contact Conor Flood cdo@volleyballireland.com for more information on this.  On Monday 9th December 2019, the Education & Training Commission ran a Refreshers Referee Course in the VI office on Thomas Street. All Referees are required to take a Refresher course every 3 years.
Alan Gormally, Ireland's only International Referee ran the course which was received with great interest and enthusiasm. Alan presented scenarios from FIVB case book and the correct course of actions were discussed followed by likely situations to be encountered during the season in Ireland. There was robust discussions with good examples of case studies and actual examples of situations that Referees have experienced. This was followed by a closed book refresher exam, exam review, results and feedback. if you and fellow referees from your club need to attend a refreshers course please contact the Education & Training Commission to arrange a date - educationandtraining@volleyballireland.com  Volleyball Ireland Association Cup Final chosen for Live Streaming.
The Federation of Irish Sport announced the recipients of the ‘Showcase your sportswomen live’ fund which is supported by Sport Ireland and delivered by Pundit Arena. Recipients will be awarded the services of Pundit Arena to live stream a sporting event where there is female participation. The fund is operated with thanks to Women in Sport funding provided by Sport Ireland for 2020. The streaming package will see 4 other sporting events brought to life across Pundit Arena and the NGBs platforms including elements of social media promotion and support, key interviews and the event streaming itself. The events covered in 2020 will include Track Cycling International, Ultimate Frisbee test match v Great Britain and the Level Par Golf Conference, Splash ‘n’ Dash @ Grand Canal Doc. Speaking about the recipients, Federation CEO Mary O’Connor said “We are delighted to announce the worthy recipients today. The volume and quality of applications was exceptionally high and we are excited to be able to bring such fantastic and innovative events to life in 2020. It is vital that women in sport are given the opportunity to be as visible as possible and that such events are shared with as wide an audience as possible to help grow participation across all sports.” Volleyball Ireland GM, Gary Stewart added, "It's a key pillar of our strategic plan to raise the profile of the sport and this partnership will really help us to do that. It will showcase our tremendous athletes and their skills to new audiences across Ireland, and with Pundit Arena's huge reach, across the world." Women in Sport Lead for Sport Ireland, Nora Stapleton speaking at the announcement said, “Sport Ireland is delighted to provide investment to the Federation of Irish Sport through the Women in Sport programme. Visibility is one of the key target areas of the Women in Sport Policy and thus supporting initiatives such as this means that visibility and profile of our female role models in sport is increasing.” st piece of work by the Federation, who are also involved in the 20×20 campaign, to help increase the visibility of women in sport.  This Thursday 12th December our senior school finals event will feature finals for both boys and girls in the A, B & C categories with Colaiste Mhuire of Ennis favourites to defend their crown. They will face strong opposition from Dublin based Rockford Manor. The match will feature key players from the U17 Girls National squad such as captain Maria Jones and Laura Connolly going head to head. The Boys A final pits St. Flannan's College against Drumshanbo, who overcame champions St. Brigid's Loughrea in a thrilling semi final. The Leitrim side will be looking to go one step further this year, but with Flannans having U20 National Team stars Cathal Dwyer and Cian Humphreys in their lineup it could be a second trophy heading back to County Clare. Drumshanbo captain and leader Gareth Gilmartin will have something to say about that. Both Senior A matches promise to be crackers! In the B Finals, Colaiste An Eachreidh of Athenry take on Grange Community College of Dublin in the boys and in the girls Scoil Mhuire of Strokestown, Roscommon entertain Patrician Presentation of Fethard, Tipperary. If these matches are half as good as last year the crowds will be in for a great day. The Senior C Girls sees a second school from Roscommon represented as Elphin CC take on St Leo's of Carlow. 10:30 - Snr A Girls: Colaiste Mhuire v Rockford Manor (Hall B) - LIVE on Volleyball Ireland Facebook Page 11:00 - Snr B Girls: Scoil Mhuire v Patrician Presentation (Hall A) 12:00 - Snr A Boys: St Flannans v Drumshanbo (Hall B) - LIVE on Volleyball Ireland Facebook Page 12:30 - Snr B Girls: Elphin CC v St Leo's (Hall A) 14:00 - Snr C Girls: Colaiste an Eachreidh v Grange CC (Hall B) - LIVE on Volleyball Ireland Facebook Page With 7 counties represented it shows the strength of Schools Volleyball across Ireland.  The 2019/20 Volleyball Ireland Association Cup draw for both the Men’s & Women’s competition took place in event sponsor O’Driscoll O’Neill the leading insurance broker for sports insurance in Ireland today, Tuesday 10th December.
Womens Draw Round 1 To be played 18/19 January 2020 1.1 - TCD vs Dalkey Devils 1.2 - Santry PW vs Naas Cobras 1.3 - TRVC D1W vs UCD 1.4 - Aer Lingus Hawks vs TRVC D2W 1.5 - Santry D1W 1 vs Santry D1W 2 Quarter Finals To be played 8/9 February 2020 CupQF1 - Gardians Patatas vs Wnr 1.5 CupQF2 - DVC Lions vs Wnr 1.4 CupQF3 - Gardians D1W vs Wnr 1.3 CupQF4 - Wnr 1.1 vs Wnr 1.2 The women’s draw is available to watch here shortly Mens Draw Round 1 To be played 18/19 January 2020 1.1 - IT Carlow v TRVC D1M 1.2 - Aer Lingus Harriers vs TCD 1.3 - TRVC PM vs Gardians 5.0 Quarter Finals To be played 8/9 February 2020 CupQF1 - Aer Lingus PM vs Wnr 1.1 CupQF2 - UCD vs Wnr 1.2 CupQF3 - DVC Abú vs Wnr 1.3 CupQF4 - Aer Lingus Masters vs DVC BraVo The men’s draw is available to watch here shortly A huge thank you to Kathryn Reddy, Jamie Costello, Laura Redmond & Danielle Dowling (All O’Driscoll O’Neil) for their assistance with the draw.  December 7th, CIT, Cork- The South Recreational Mixed Cup Finals drew to a close for 2019 on Saturday. The tournament has really been going from strength to strength and this year we had a 54% increase in team entries.
There are two levels of play Cup & shield. The first day of the cup was played back in November and after an intense 28 matches we had our league positions finalised. The second day consisted more of a straight knockout style. Teams are paired with similar teams according to the day one results. The morning session however meant Dalkey Devils, CIT, Cork Diggers and Phoenix VC all departed at the quarterfinal stage. UCC who narrowly overcame Phoenix VC (West Rec runners up 2019) in the QF were matched against defending south champions Netforce VC. The college club really got into their stride though and pulled off a remarkable victory to catapult them into their first ever South Rec Final. Over in Semi Final B, Impact VC were facing a difficult challenge in BOA. It was a close match up and tough for BOA who eventually lost out on that final spot. The final was a worthy and exciting final. UCC snatched the first set 26-24 and even had two match point to claim glory but Impact's experience pulled them through to take a 26-24 second set victory. Point for point the final set was anyone's but the club from Macroom finally pinched gold 15-12. We will take a short break now until the new year but will be straight back with the Shield Final on January 11th again in CIT. We have defending champions, runners up as well as some new clubs this year hoping to create an upset.  Volleyball Ireland's TY Volley Programme is going from strength to strength. Since September we have hit the ground running training up over 380 TY Students as coaches. The course is currently running in schools in the following counties: Cavan, Carlow, Cork, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Longford, Mayo Roscommon and Wicklow. We have many more schools lined up for the New Year!
TY Volley is a Transition Year Volleyball programme for girls and boys. The students are trained up as volleyball coaches and deliver a 6-week introduction game to younger students. The TY leaders then organise and run a blitz at the end of the programme for all the students they have coached. What are the benefits?
There are two options for the TY Programme. OPTION 1: SPIKEBALL IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
OPTION 2: MIDI-VOLLEYBALL WITH 1ST OR 2ND YEARS
If you are interested in the programme or are looking for some more information please contact Jessie, jessie@volleyballireland.com. The East League took place over the weekend of the 7th & 8th December. Day one was played in Portmarnock Community School. All 6 teams played in a round-robin with the final round continuing on the 8th. By the end of Day 1, the top 3 teams were Balbriggan 2 and MGL who were on the same points with a game left to play against each other. 3rd place was tight between Balbriggan 1 and TUD-CC. Balbriggan needed a set, TUD-CC needed a win in their head-to-head. DKIT 1 & 2 had both secured their places in the shield finals for day 2. The morning of day 2 opened with some very exciting games, TUD-CC vs Balbriggan 1, MGL vs Balbriggan 2 and DKIT 1 vs DKIT 2. The winner of TUD-CC vs Balbriggan 1 would guarantee them a place in the cup finals. After a close game it was one set all, however Balbriggan just needed one set to see them through. By the end of the morning the groups were determined. The Cup - Balbriggan 2, MGL & Balbriggan 1 The Shield - TUD-CC, DKIT 1 & DKIT 2 Day 2 continued with The Shield TUD-CC and DKIT 1 had the same points but was enough for them to go through to the final. The teams played each other twice already with the results split to one set each, each time they played so was very even match. In the final DKIT found another gear and beat the defending champions 2-0. After the shield came the cup finals which were closely contested as the difference between being in the finals or not were a matter of sets and points difference. The group finished with MGL topping it, Balbriggan 2 coming 2nd and Balbriggan 1 finishing 3rd. The final was between MGL and Balbriggan 2. This game was as close as they come! The first set MGL took it 25-20, Balbriggan 2 took the second set, 27-25 to bring it to the decider. The final set was exciting, passionate and down to the wire. Balbriggan dug deep to win it 15-12. A big thank you to the teams who played and to those who refereed and scored.  Volleyball Ireland hosted its first International Youth event over the weekend in Gormanston College.
The ‘Friendship Tournament’ featured the Danish club Farum & Halte, as well as teams representing East and West Ireland, as well as representative sides from the Northern Ireland Volleyball Association. In total, over 180 players descended on County Meath for a weekend of 5set matches, training and coach knowledge transfer. The aim of the event is to help young players learn, grow and develop in a supportive and positive International environment. The action began on Friday evening with team training, followed by competitive games on the Saturday, social entertainment during the evening and on Sunday morning a chance to play Sitting Volleyball and be coached by leaders from other teams – this gave coaches a great chance to share ideas, concepts and philosophies. For the Danish team the Friday included a sightseeing trip in Dublin City, and of course a visit to the Viking Splash Tour! Jessica Panke Wagner of Farum & Halte VC said, "The event was a perfect mix of serious volleyball, social activities and fun, in a setting with great facilities in the Gormanston Sports Complex. We had 30 boys and girls from 11 to 15 years of age attending across our youth teams, who all have returned with memories that will last them a lifetime." Conor Flood, Volleyball Ireland’s development officer who led the project added, “it was a fantastic weekend of Volleyball with a great energy and buzz. We really wanted to give young players a taste of a weekend competition and what it’s like to play against international teams. The feedback has been excellent and we will grow the concept next year opening up entries to other club teams from across Europe. The friendly nature of the event meant coaches were sharing ideas and philosophies and hopefully taking this back to their clubs to help improve Volleyball for everyone – that’s what it’s all about.” All players and coaches stayed in on-site accommodation for two nights, helping them become familiar with a standard setup for International tournaments. General Manager of Volleyball Ireland Gary Stewart added, “One of the learnings from our entry in the u16 CEV Zonal competition earlier this year was that our players need more experience before they play internationally, as for a teenager it can be quite daunting. The idea behind this is to help them become familiar with a trip away.” Volleyball Ireland would like to thank Farum & Halte Volleyball Club and Irish native Dave Colgan for their support getting the event off the ground. Details on the 2020 event will be announced shortly.  Volleyball Ireland are delighted to announce the successful acquisition of 35,000 Euro of funding to support inclusion programmes.
The grant is routed from the Dormant Accounts fund through Sport Ireland and signifies the progress the Association are making with inclusion programmes. The funding will help kick start a Sitting Volleyball programme for people with physical disabilities. As well as a new Chair Volley programme for children and adults with more profound disabilities. The exciting Chair Volley initiative aims to work with community centres and service providers to create a network of Chair Volley activity and ultimately a National Chair Volley Championship. Volleyball Ireland GM Gary Stewart said, "We are very grateful to Minister Ross and Griffin and the team at Sport Ireland for supporting our application. We are looking to work with a range of partners to ensure that there is a Volleyball programme for everyone in Ireland, regardless of physical ability." The project will also help clubs that are located in areas of disadvantage establish youth sections. The support will include equipment, coach education and club development resources. If anyone clubs are interested in participating in this scheme please make contact with gm@volleyballireland.com You may have seen that we have secured the services of internationally renown Youth Volleyball Coach Kristof De Loose to deliver the next Coaching Masterclass event. There are only a small number of places left. This is not to be missed.
The Belgian comes with an incredible reputation as one of the most advanced development coaches in Europe, and signifies an unrivalled opportunity for Irish Coaches to learn from the very best. De Loose currently works as Director of Sports Training for Volley Vlaanderen (VV). He is responsible for all of the Volleyball coaching courses organised in the Flanders region and has been involved in coaching Volleyball at the youth, junior and senior level for more than 20 years. Moreover, he is a lecturer at the Flemish Coaching School, a Start2Volley (the youth programme of Volley Vlaanderen) trainer, as well as a member of the Youth Committee at Volley Vlaanderen. De Loose works for the Confederation de Europeene Volleyball as a Coach tutor and recently delivered a high quality workshop at the CEV Coaches convention in Slovenia this Summer. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from the very best. Date: Thurs 12th December Venue: Sport Ireland National Indoor Arena, Dublin Time: 7-9pm Content: The session will be a mix of theory and practical work with a focus on youth development Cost: VI Registered Coaches FREE, Non VI Members €10 Booking: Through Go Membership > https://volleyballireland.azolve.com/Workbench.mvc/Show/6?ref=5A9AEC338EFDAD57EC7A0296FC94BB91D75DEE36  The DIVA Applications will be closing very soon!
Don’t miss this brilliant opportunity for you and your college to participate in Volleyball Irelands very exciting brand new DIVA programme. The DIVA programme is aimed at recruiting Female College Students to become Volleyball Activators. Developing, Inspiring, Volleyball, Activators or ‘DIVA’ is funded through the Sport Ireland Women in Sport Programme. It will support your students develop leadership skills and establish social volleyball classes within your institution. For many Activators, it will be the first step on the Coaching and Leadership ladder. Whilst the programme is initially aimed at recruiting female leaders, the Activators will then deliver recreational and social volleyball to all students. We are actively looking for Students and Colleges that may wish to promote Sitting Volleyball – which is designed for people with a physical disability or mobility issues. We hope this programme will lead to increased participation, engagement and activity within College life. As part of the programme, we are actively looking for Students, Colleges and Third Level institutions to help bring the initiative to life. If you are interested in supporting this unique programme or would like to become a DIVA. Please contact Jessie at jessie@volleyballireland.com |
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