Moving Forward Events
Kayaking fund raising secures £2,620 for Moving Forward
On the afternoon of Sunday 11th July 2010 Moving Forward held a sponsored kayaking event on the Chichester Canal. The event was supported by the Adventure College who provided the boats and staff to ensure everyone's safety. 15 disabled and able bodied volunteers took part in the event kayaking over 100 miles and raising a total of £2,620 for Moving Forward.
Portsmouth Sitting Volleyball Club - an instant success: open to both disabled and able bodied
Since the establishment of Portsmouth Sitting Volleyball Club in October 2009, the Club has gone
from strength to strength, thanks to the lead taken by above knee amputee Steve Bailey and the support
given by Moving Forward.
Portsmouth Sitting Volleyball Club was borne out of the amputee games when nine users of the DSC took part in the games in August 2009. They took part in 13 different sports, but the one that really caught the eye was sitting volleyball. One of those participants was Steve Bailey who was encouraged by England Volleyball to set up a sitting volleyball centre in Portsmouth. A few phone calls and with support from Moving Forward, Bron Carter at Portsmouth City Council and Jayne Sharpe at Portsmouth Volleyball Club, Steve was able to establish the club and set up the first training session on 15th October 2009.
Members taking part in a training session at the Mary Rose School
The club is affiliated to Portsmouth Sitting Volleyball Club who have been extremely supportive. In particular, the club has been indebted to the superb coaching skills of Dave Willoughby who was an experienced volleyball coach and who wanted to focus all of his energies on the sitting volleyball team. Sadly Dave passed away in July 2010 but his memory lives on and the club is committed to building on what Dave achieved with the team and to continue to develop and grow.
Since the first training session the club has gone from strength to strength attracting both disabled and able bodied. The club took part in its first tournament on 29 November 2009 at Sevenoaks which it managed to win and then went on to compete in the national Grand Prix series event - four events held at the national volleyball centre in Kettering and also in Sheffield. The team finished fourth and went through the national finals at Crystal Palace (see David Williamson's article below for further details).
Winning team at the South East Tournament, Sevenoaks, Nov 2009
Three of the club's players have been invited to attend the GB squad training camp (Lorraine Lambert, Charlotte Hughes and David Williamson) and one is already a member of the GB women's squad (Emma Wiggs). Kat Atkinson who is a physiotherapist at the Disablement Services Centre in Portsmouth and a regular club player, has recently been appointed as the physio for the GB women's squad.
Training is held every Thursday at the Mary Rose School from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. Membership is £5 per month and there is a fee of £3 for each training session. Average attendance is 11. The club currently have on their books 13 physically disabled, 11 able-bodied, 2 coaches and 1 photographer.
If you want to find out more, or come along to one of the training sessions, then please contact Stev Bailey, tel: 07717733796 or email: steve.bailey919@ntlworld.com. You can also find out more at www.portsmouthvolleyballclub.co.uk.
About Sitting Volleyball
David Williamson, bilateral above knee amputee, writes about the club's experience of competing in the national finals.
As underdog stories go, this must be up with the best. A club formed in October 2009 following a demonstration at the Amputee Games, a group of players with no knowledge or experience of the game, most with no sporting background at all, fight their way to the National Finals at Crystal Palace, where in all honesty we had no right to be. Except we had earned the right to be there, by finishing fourth in the Grand Prix Series set up by Volleyball England to promote the sport. And we had accomplished that by hard work, bruised elbows, scraped stumps, and a desire to win second to no other team.
And in the semi-finals, who else could we be drawn against but the Celtic Dragons, winners of the aforementioned series.
Before the match started, it was clear we had been underestimated, and their unease grew as we matched them point for point, before finding ourselves with a set-winning opportunity at 24-23. However, our lack of big-match experience proved to be decisive, and the Dragons pulled a win out of the bag at 28-26. The second set was broadly similar, except the pull away occurred at 19-19, with a six-point run to win 25-19.
We had been beaten, but were far from disgraced.
We had a 3 hour break before the 3rd place playoff, which was a huge factor in our losing both sets by a clear margin to the Loughborough Lions, who were deserved winners.
The final, between East London Lynx and Celtic Dragons, was an event looked forward to by all i attendance, although the actual match proved to be anti-climax, with Lynx winning easily 3 sets to 0.
The importance of the day ultimately comes down to what we can take away from it. We have learnt that our fighting spirit, never-say-die attitude and a dedicated coaching team can take us very nearly all the way. We now have six months to develop the technical skills, tactics and composure to reach the top.
Just as important has been the recognition and support given to us by nearly all the other teams that have competed against us over the last 5 months. They, more so than ourselves, have been able to see ho we have improved and developed since the beginning, a feat proven with the fact that we now have four team members associated with the Great Britain set up. I would like to thank those teams, officials and individuals for their constant support.
Of course, next year we won't be the underdogs anymore. That's when the challenge really begins.