Players encouraged to put themselves forward for Leadership Group after Olympians Meppelink and Pipes share experiences

The two-hour sessions, facilitated by players Jermaine Miles, Gerda Berštautaitė and Saif Adam, tackled a host of topics relating to players and was attended by members from a wide age range. 

Dutch two-time European Beach Volleyball champion Meppelink gave a fascinating insight of what it takes to be a world-class elite athlete – and how she overcame her biggest disappointments. 

She also explained how she went on to form a professional players’ union to fight for better pay and rights and then took on a voluntary role with world governing body FIVB as President of its Athletes’ Commission. 

Pipes recounted his journey from aspiring young player to GB Olympian, which included the amazing experience of playing in front of 70,000 people, and how he has subsequently given back to the sport. 

Since finishing his playing career, he has worked and volunteered for, among others, the Youth Sport, Scottish Volleyball, the British Volleyball Federation and Team GB. 

Those speakers were supported by former Olympic silver medallist in rowing, Miriam Luke MBE, who spoke about how players can manage their coach to get the best out of them, and UK Sports Institute Performance Lifestyle Coach Clare Stacey, who talked about how life gets in the way of volleyball – and how to deal with it. 

Volleyball England’s Strategic Manager for Digital and Communications, Matt Halfpenny, discussed how Volleyball England is looking to build its brand, particularly in relation to the MAAREE Women’s and DYNAMIK Men’s Super Leagues. 

Two break out topics were included in the sessions and featured an ‘Ask Away’ segment, where players could ask questions of Volleyball England Chief Executive Officer Charlie Ford and Board Director Simon Cowie. 

The final slot, led by Volleyball England Deputy Chief Executive Officer and event organiser Guin Batten, was devoted to designing what a future Player Community Leadership Group (see more information below) could look like. 

She said: “I want to share a huge thanks to an outstanding group of speakers, and to share our gratitude to the three player facilitators, Saif, Jermaine and Gerda who provided the golden thread through both evenings. 

“The next step is to create a group of players that come together to lead player voice across the sport. It is an exciting time, and I look forward to working with the group in the new year.” 

On the back of these initial seminars, Volleyball England is keen to hear from any players who want to make their voice heard. 

A Player Community Leadership Group is being set up with the aim of engaging and connecting with more players across the volleyball community. 

 

Watch the presentations back... 

If you couldn’t attend the seminar, you can now watch the presentations by clicking on the relevant link below.