Sitting Volleyball Returns
By Michael Weadock, May 2023
This weekend International Sitting Volleyball returns to this country for the very first time since London 2012. Nottingham University will host the Silver Nations League across three days with both the men and women’s GB teams taking part. Their aim over the next twelve months is to secure qualification for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
Great Britain last competed in the Paralympic games in 2012 where they automatically qualified as the host nation. To qualify in 2024 would be an enormous achievement for a sport which has recently received UK Sport funding for the first time in more than a decade.
Amongst all the triumph and euphoria of London 2012, I think some mistakes were made in the aftermath. One of the key decisions which I believe was wrong concerned the withdrawal of funding for sports like volleyball, handball and basketball. Whilst Team GB were never likely to contend for medals in 2012, it seemed a huge shame that once the Olympics and Paralympics were over, there was no pathway or opportunity for those athletes who had represented Team GB to carry on.
I firmly believe that with the right funding and a well-managed high-performance programme, these sports could now have national teams performing at a much higher level than they currently are and with realistic ambitions of podium finishes at a global level in the near future. Look at how quickly sports like Taekwondo and Triathlon have taken off and how within 20 years they regularly produce medallists at all the major competitions.
The three sports I’ve identified have a huge number of grassroots participants. Sport England’s Active Lives survey in early 2023 identified more than one million children and young adults regularly play basketball. Results have been promising. At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England won four medals in 3x3 basketball, including gold for the men, whilst the Bello Brothers won a brilliant bronze in Beach Volleyball.
So, this weekend could be just the beginning for GB Sitting Volleyball as, with support in place, they aim for Paris and then really target Los Angeles in 2028. The Silver Nations league is free to go and watch and involves nine teams from across Europe. Find out more by listening to our latest podcast here:
