VOLLEYBALL

NEWSLETTER

The following Newsletter has been forwarded to you, from the Volleyball Newsletter E-Mail list. The UK's leading on line Volleyball News service, providing up to date volleyball information, direct to newsletter members throughout the UK and Ireland. Articles are collected from a variety of sources and credited appropriately. The Volleyball Newsletter uses advertising sponsorship to support our free and non-profit making service to newsletter members. To advertise your volleyball events or products, direct to players, club and league secretaries throughout the UK Ireland, then please see our web site for details or contact Dave at Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

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Hi all, More news from the web.

My sevice provider deleted my email account the other week for a few days, hence I have lost a few emails, so if your item is not in this newsletter, could you please resend. I am particulatrly interested hearing from the person who sent in a video link of an excellent and well edited video of what looked like a volleyball marathon played on a double court, if that was you, could you please resend - thank you.

And unfortunately one of the hazards of running a newsletter is that you occasionally get things wrong. In the last issue I incorrectly labelled the Newcastle Staffs 2 v Preston match and for some reason got the venue mixed up. The match was played at Newcastle Staffs 2 home venue and not as labelled, my apologies to all.

Cheers - Dave Reece Dave.Reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

NAME CHANGE – “RICHMOND VOLLEYBALL” (FORMERLY WHITTON VC)
Whitton VC underwent a name change last month and has now become known as Richmond Volleyball. The new name is more in line with our strategic vision and partnerships. Richmond Volleyball is probably the fastest growing volleyball community in West London. Richmond volleyball now has 220 players (22+ teams) from adults, students and juniors). We also have 11 qualified coaches.

New web site www.richmondvolleyball.co.uk

VOLUNTEERS NEED
Richmond Volleyball is literally taking off and is becoming one of the fastest volleyball growth areas. To sustain continuous growth the club needs more volunteers and professional staff. As a club we need people who want to be coaches, team leaders and/or organisers, referees, scorers to support our dynamic junior and adult programmes. If you want to get involved but need training, we will advise on appropriate courses and might be able to support your interest.

Thanks
David Rijvers dr@goldeneye-executive-careers.com
www.richmondvolleyball.co.uk

ONLY ONE PLACE LEFT The 2007 Exeter Ladies Challenge, will take place on Sunday the 29th April 2007 (10:00 - 18:00) at the Riverside Leisure Center, Exeter. The event caters for all playing standards, from Local to Lower National League. Originally sold out months before the event, one team has had to unfortunatly withdraw, hence we now have a vacancy. If you would like to spend a day playing against the likes of Torexe, Plymouth, Yeovil, Royal Navy, Nick Chick, Bristol, Totnes, Maverics, UWE & the SWU16 squad, then please let me know ASAP (12 teams maximum).

More details on our web site: www.exeterladieschallenge.com or email me at dave.reece@volleyballnewsletter.com

The dates for this years Fun 4's and Coaver Open have been fixed for;

Fun 4's - Saturday 9th June Coaver Open & Junior Open - Sunday 10th June

There will be a Party on Saturday evening (as always) with free tickets included in the entry price, catering on site throughout and camping / parking is free of charge (Friday and Saturday nights).

These dates are set so as to avoid clashes with Perranporth and North Devon beach events.

See you there!

Martin Tournament Organiser

Wayne Coyle starts as Programme Manager for British Volleyball. On the same day, British Volleyball also unveils its new logo, looking ahead to the opportunities leading up to the London 2012 Olympic Games. Wayne, a keen volleyballer himself and previously Head of Sport at Sheffield, believes the new role is a once in a lifetime opportunity and although the path ahead is a long and tricky one, the goals are achievable.

“No-one should underestimate the challenges we will face to get GB representation in Beijing 2008 in the beach event and in all volleyball disciplines in London 2012, but I consider it is achievable” says Wayne.

Richard Callicott, Chairman of British Volleyball, is confident of the development on the GB Programme. “Wayne’s post, as Programme Manager, will support all the individuals in the programme – the players, coaches and support staff and provide them an environment to operate at high level. We are putting structures into place that will link with the Home Nations so that the performance level of volleyball throughout Great Britain is raised”

The Indoor Volleyball programme continues to hold training camps at which talented players are identified and developed. Phillipe Blain, French Men’s Coach and FIVB consultant to the GB programme, attended the camp at Sheffield EIS before Christmas, speaking with players and staff from both the men’s and women’s programmes; which was well received by all. 2007 will bring full time coaches on board, building on the work already done throughout the interim programme.

In beach volleyball, Jeff Alzina is set to perfect our top pairs in California, in preparation for FIVB World Tour qualifiers and other big matches ahead. J?rg Ahmann was due to take up the role of Head Beach Coach, based at Bath University, but decided to continue with his German beach programme. However, this has not prevented the players from training hard despite the dearth of indoor beach facilities in this country.

www.fivb.org

Match Videos have been by far the most exciting and the most popular new product that we have introduced since starting the newsletter 12 years ago. Initially I just wanted to see if it was technically possible and to see if their was an audience out there.

The answer has been a resounding yes on both accounts, it is possible and 800+ (33%) of newsletter readers have been watching and downloading the top matches. Lots of readers have asked about the match videos and how they have been going, feed back, viewing figures etc.

Feed back has been amazing, thank you for all your comments, everyone appears to be getting something different from the matches and the list appears endless. However, it is a new and on going developing product, the video quality, processing, editing is improving with each match and so is it's acceptance with event organisers, referees, coaches and players. There is also a paperwork exercise that goes with it, policy (what to include or not to include), advising teams and officials etc, this is also developing.

Viewing Figures
We have shown nine matches in the first six months and the download stats fall into the following areas:
700 to 800 Division 1 match
500 to 700 Division 2 match
400 to 500 Division 3 match
200 to 300 Regional match

I have also started to add some one set match highlights from our small but growing back catalogue, these are adding an extra 100 hits per match per month, hence we are now over 1,000 viewings for some of these matches.

This may not seam a lot to some but the newsletter only has 2,400 subscribers, so 800 is a good figure. Their are a lot of excellent matches around, watched by a hand full of spectators. our current feature match (Devon Women v South Hants) had practically no one watching, two closely matched Div 2 teams battling it out. Thanks to our coverage, 600 people will now see the match on its initial showing, stats show that most will only watch set 1 but a third will download the whole match. Set five will be added to our "one set" highlight area in a couple of months time, where another 200+ people will watch it, total match viewing 800'ish.

Feedback falls into the following general areas:
Readers who have never seen a National League match.
Viewers who are involved in their own area of the sport and hence unable to see matches from other divisions or other parts of the country.
Coaches who are interested in how other teams play.
I have also heard of volleyball evenings, where teams goes around to someone’s house (after training) to watch the current feature match etc.
Conversation, items shown in the video are now being talked about.

Cost
There is a cost to videoing, editing and distributing the matches, throughput on the server often tops 10 Gbytes per day and so far my service provider has not yet complained. I try to load balance the downloads by advertising a new match first via the RSS news feed, then I included it in the newsletter about a week later. This way I even out the downloads, keeping my service provider happy and matches online.

The camera is a bottom of the range 0.8 mbps Sony, I like to get as close to the action as possible and at some point it will receive a direct hit. It would be nice to upgrade to a higher spec camera but without a sponsor I have to self insure and hence the cheap camera will be staying for a while yet.

Camera Position
My preferred videoing position is to stand to the right of the first referee towards the baseline (without interfering with the line jude). This gives a good view of the scoreboards (which needs to be positioned slightly to the left of the second referee) and to both substitution areas. Hitting through position four takes place in front of the me and as most players (on my side of the net) will serve from position 1 or 2, the camera arc as I pan around (from server to net) is less than it would be on the other side of the net.

The camera view finder screen is on the left of the camera, if I was positioned to the left of the first ref, I would be unable to see it properly without standing physically closure to the court. Thanks to my local club who have been acting as guinea pigs over the last few months as I try to perfect the technique and my thanks to the various event organisers and to the referees who have accommodated me and hence have made the match videos the success that it is today.

Future
It would be nice to upgrade to a 2mbps service (better quality, even with a 0.8mbps camera) but that requires doubling the download file size, increased server throughput, increased buffering and download delays to the end user.

Prematch interview with coaches and team captains have been suggested and I have been in contact with a number of other sites who are looking to host their own match videos, so hopefully there will be more matches out their soon.

Dave Reece Dave.Reece@Volleyballnewsletter.com

RYAN JONES The big Ospreys back-row is a huge fan of the outdoor lifestyle, as betrayed by his surfer locks. He owns a jet-ski and loves hitting the beaches of West Wales. "It's worth about four times my car. It's what I always wanted for years but I finally bought it." Volleyball and video games are also a passion of his.

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk

Another web site which is now showing match videos on line is http://middlehitter.com, click on their link and select the Video menu to see a variety of sets and match highlights from North America. This one set (set 1) match video is from The Men's 2006 Can-Am Challenge, Pepperdine vs. Manitoba [I believed Manitoba toured the UK the other year and played at Whitfield]. Click image to view... or Right click and "Save Target As" to download.

26 European men's teams and 21 European women's teams will participate in the qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games. An elimination round will decide on which teams will pass on to the prequalification phase which will start in November 2007 (same time as the FIVB World Cup). The following qualification phase in January 2008 will decide which teams will claim the two berths for Europe (one men’s team and one women’s team).

The teams wanting to qualify for the Junior World Championship will be registered in the qualification round via the CEV. Selected teams will be seeded, whilst others will compete in qualification tournaments. The final allocation of teams will be issued on Thursday, 15 February 2007.

www.cev.lu

The first edition of the Veteran European Championships, which will take place from 8-12 October 2007 in Loutraki (GRE), has been confirmed in the following four age categories: men 40-50 years old (category A), men over 50 (category B), women 35-45 (category C) and women over 45 (category D). The counting system has been altered age-related.

A victory has been achieved if one team wins two sets of 25 points. If a tie persists, a third set of 15 points will decide the winner. Information concerning specific accommodation conditions can be found on the competition website www.2007veteranseurovolley.com

www.cev.lu

FIVE MEN’S TEAMS SECURED PLAYOFF SPOT Men's Indesit European Champions' League 2006/07 Following the eighth leg of the Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League, Portol Drac Palma MALLORCA (ESP), Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS), Noliko MAASEIK (BEL), Knack Randstad ROESELARE (BEL) and Panathinaikos ATHENS (GRE) have already secured their qualification to the playoff round with two more legs to go.

Hypo Tirol INNSBRUCK (AUT), ORTEC ROTTERDAM Nesselande (NED), aon hotVolleys VIENNA (AUT), Olympiacos PIRAEUS (GRE), Numancia SORIA (ESP) and Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD (SRB) are the teams that will have no more chance of reaching the three top spots in their respective pools.

In the last two matches of the eighth leg on Thursday night, Levski Siconco SOFIA beat Polish BOT SKRA BELCHATOW in Bulgaria 3:1 and German VfB FRIEDRICHSHAFEN won the deciding tiebreak set against Vojvodina Novolin NOVI SAD (SRB) away in Pool D. “I’m extremely happy with this victory”, stated SOFIA’s captain Boyan Yordanov, “It’s for the first time that we have claimed four victories in the Indesit European Champions’ League. I’m also glad that I managed to score 31 points for my team and I especially want to thank the fans for their support - they are the best!”

For results, pictures and further information on the Men’s Indesit European Champions’ League 2006/07 please view http://www.cev.lu/mmp/online/website/main_menu/volleyball/european_cups/indesit/index_EN.html

www.cev.lu

In the final leg of the Women’s Indesit European Champions’ League, Spanish Hotel Cantur LAS PALMAS managed to beat Dutch DELA Martinus AMSTELVEEN in straight sets, thus securing the last free spot in the 12-team playoff round.

It was the final deciding match of the sixth leg, as eleven teams had already secured their qualification for the 12-playoff round last week. DELA Martinus AMSTELVEEN went into the match as favourites as they beat LAS PALMAS in the previous Pool B encounter at home and had more points to book than the Spanish challenger. But LAS PALMAS were backed up by home fans and didn’t let the opportunity slip, finally seizing a clean 3:0 victory. “I’m very happy about the game level and the sacrifice shown by my players when facing a great rival”, declared local head coach Sergio Miguel Camarero, “We’ve won fairly and we’ll try to give our best in the playoff phase.”

The encounter between the two top Pool B teams Vini Monteschiavo JESI and Vol?ro Z?RICH was decided in favour of the Italians. "We played with a young team and are very happy with the result", stated JESI's head coach Marcello Abbondanza. Best scorer was Virginie de Carne (Vol?ro Z?RICH) with 24 points followed by JESI's number 15 Martha Zamora Gil (23 points).

In Pool A, Dinamo MOSCOW (RUS) had to surrender for the first time when they played away against Turkish Vakifbank G?nes S. ISTANBUL (3:1). Home player Aysun Ozbek was the best scorer with 23 points. “We have a few injured players in our team”, declared MOSCOW head coach Dmitry Fomin, “When we played ISTANBUL at home, we also struggled.” Last year’s runner-up RC CANNES (FRA) beat Polish Muszynianka Fakro MUSZYNA in straight sets, overtaking the Turks from Vakifbank G?nes S. ISTANBUL to finish second in Pool A. “We knew everything about the Polish team before the game”, stated Eva Yaneva. CANNES head coach Yan Fang added: “The Poles had big problems with reception and they weren’t able to construct their game on court.”

Italian Scavolini PESARO dominated Pool C, finishing first ranked after winning the sixth leg match facing Azerrail BAKU 3:1. “It was important to win, both for the qualification and for the next match", declared MVP Carolina Costagrande, who scored 25 points (five les than top scorer Natalya Mammadova), "I attacked a lot today because some of my teammates aren't at their best. It's important to be in a good condition for the following matches as well as to help each other whenever one doesn't feel well."

Turkish Eczacibasi ISTANBUL came back against SVS Post SCHWECHAT after losing the first set to finally seize a 3:1 victory, consequently taking away second place from Azerrail BAKU. “Despite the results, the Indesit European Champions' League was a great success for Austrian women's volleyball", concluded SVS Post President Karl Hanzl, "We are looking forward to prove the aspects we have learnt this year in the coming seasons."

In Pool D, Polish Winiary KALISZ beat Mladost ZAGREB (CRO), whilst Italian Foppapedretti BERGAMO overflew Spar TENERIFE Marichal with the same score. However, the two match results had no effect on the final ranking, where BERGAMO remained the undisputed pool leader with a 6-0 match record.

The drawing of lots for the playoff phase will be held on Thursday, 18 January 2007 at 14.30hrs local time in Luxembourg. The organiser of the women's Final Four will be announced on the same day. If the Final Four organiser, who automatically qualifies for the Final Four, should belong to the 12 already qualified playoff teams, the best fourth ranked team of the League Round (i.e. DELA Martinus AMSTELVEEN) will subsequently take over the place made available in the playoffs.

For results, pictures and further information on the Women’s Indesit European Champions’ League 2006/07 please view http://www.cev.lu/mmp/online/website/main_menu/volleyball/european_cups/indesit/index_EN.html

www.cev.lu