Junior Volleyball in London

Junior Volleyball in London

Junior Volleyball in London

I am very concerned at the state of Junior Volleyball development across London. There are a number of excellent patches of Junior Volleyball, but a lot of mediocre work and a lot of frustrated coaches and school teachers, and a huge demand from participants and in some cases even their parents.

To be blunt we are not getting anything like close to satisfying demand.

Our Association needs to decide on agreed methods of Junior Development, what competition we as London Volleyball will provide, how that is going to be funded and finally how and if we select teams to represent London.

I do not believe that we can continue the way we have been working. Every 4 years, we get an increased demand from young people who have seen volleyball at the Olympics, every year we get a huge interest following the London Youth Games. There is now a lot of pressure on people at Borough Level to get children participating in sport (the 5 hour offer), there are managers whose performance is measured on the number of School Club Links they have developed, and we are seeing offers of considerable amounts of money to deliver our side of the bargain. After 2012 we can expect a huge demand for Volleyball, and we need to start to prepare for that now.

So no more excuses, we need to plan and plan seriously what our input as the London Volleyball Association is going to be towards Junior Volleyball in London.

My view is expressed in this SWOT Analysis.

Strengths
Good coaches
Record of good club/school teams in National competitions
Production of excellent individual players
Well respected London Youth Games event
Top Clubs welcoming the best Juniors / Weaknesses
Poor competition structure
Lack of pan London coaching for Regional teams
Poor level of School / Club links
Large areas of London with no Clubs
Many clubs not having Junior policy
Uncoordinated programme.
Lack of VB knowledge amongst school teachers
Opportunities
5 Hour Offer
School Club Link initiatives from Boroughs
2012 legacy
London Development Officer
New funding initiatives
Club and Coach Funding / Threats
Lack of strong leadership
No Junior competition organisation
Disagreement on best Coaching methods
Disagreement on Junior Strategy

Some ideas:-

  • Find a strong individual to lead Junior Volleyball
  • Use the various external opportunities which provide funding to
  • reward clubs and coaches working with Juniors
  • Develop School Club links
  • Utilise the new Development Officer to broaden our Club base
  • Plan and book venues for Junior Competition
  • Use the VE accreditation programme to encourage clubs to develop a Junior policy
  • Use the VE Regional funding to structure pan London coaching
  • Hold a planning meeting shortly after the LYG and bring everyone together.
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