It has been a bumper year for volleyball at the university. New clubs have formed in both Eastbourne and Brighton campuses and with the university gaining Lottery funding for a three year programme which includes beach volleyball it is set to get better.
Part of this success is a result of the Volleyball England's Higher Education Volleyball Officer (HEVO) programme. The university has joined the scheme and has joined the 28 other HEVO's now in post at Universities across the country.
Our HEVO at Brighton University (Alaa Alsharif) and the University of Sussex (Grainee le Fevre) have worked together recently to host a student beach volleyball festival at the Yellowave centre in Brighton.
The event was a great success, with over 100 students taking part, many of whom had not played volleyball since school! Grainne le Fevre the HEVO from the University of Sussex stated “It was a great day and great to see so many new players come along to try volleyball. The next stage is to provide opportunities for them to keep them playing and enjoying volleyball". The day was rounded off with Barefoot Wines presenting prizes to the winners.
Stuart Johnson (Head Of Development- Volleyball England) said "It is fantastic to see the HEVO programme taking off and to hear over 100 students took part in this event. Credit must be given to the two HEVO's involved and I am hopeful they will inspire the rest of the HEVO network to run similar events."
As well as the work undertaken by Alaa under the HEVO programme the university has also had success within the league programme. As a result of winning the regional title for the South East the team were invited to play the other regional championships. The 2011 Regional Champions Trophy proved just how strong and competitive regional volleyball is, with a close and fiercely fought 2 day event at the National Volleyball Centre to crown the Champion of Regional Champions. Brighton University Sharks came 2nd against the London Spikers in a closely fought final.
Next year as well as a new beach volleyball programme the university will also be entering both a men's and women's BUCS team to compete against other university teams.