Sitting Volleyball Final 4 preview (1st March) - Tann ready to help put Bucks back on top  

But while disappointed that the Milton Keynes-based team’s aura of invincibility has slipped ever so slightly in the last few Grand Prix, regular starter Kev Tann believes that it is ultimately no bad thing. 

Having been national champions for the last three years, The Bucks have been the dominant force in domestic competition, helped by a wealth of experience and GB internationals. 

This season, though, there has been a chink in their usually impregnable armour, with Help for Heroes A stepping up to win the last three Grand Prix rounds. 

Tann – who has played for the likes of Loughborough, Newcastle Staffs, Sheffield, Leeds and guested for Lincoln, Lynx and Help For Heroes prior to arriving at Bucks – believes that can help spur his side on as they enter the business end of the 2025-26 season. 

“This year has proven a challenge for us domestically and we have not dominated in the way we have in some other seasons when we’ve won all the Grand Prix,” he said. 

“Some of that is down to us not having all of our players available and some is down to the fact that Help for Heroes have raised their game and been able to produce and stand firm when the pressure is on. 

“But it’s also been down to the fact that we have not always been at our best and as consistent as we have in the past. 

“I think what has happened will be a good thing now as we go into Final 4 because it will give us the kick up the backside we need to work hard and refocus. 

“I think we will still win overall when it comes to the crunch, we will be fine, but we know we have to up our game and we will be training hard to do so.” 

Sports-mad Tann grew up playing a variety of sports including hockey, football, table tennis and indoor volleyball, even setting up a club for the latter at the college he attended that later morphed into community club Chesterfield Cobras. 

But he was forced to curtail many of his sporting pursuits after experiencing increasingly worse side effects from a tibia and fibula fracture dislocation sustained while playing football. 

However, in sitting volleyball, Tann found the perfect sport to keep him engaged that strikes the right balance between friendly and competitive. 

He said: “When I was first recovering from the injury, my ankle was in a funny position, but I just kept playing through it and thought it would get better. 

“But it got to the point after a hockey match where I couldn’t walk for two days and I would be crawling around on my hands and knees, so I had to give it up. 

“But finding sitting has been a brilliant way to keep on playing – it's a fantastic sport, even if it’s caused a few more injuries! 

“It’s a great community to spend time around and I have met so many great people, yet once you get on the court, that competitive instinct kicks in, and you need to work together as a team if you are going to be successful.” 

Tann’s climb to the top end of the sport could hardly have been quicker. 

While working at Volleyball England, he was asked by work colleague Steve Jones, who was also the GB women’s sitting coach at the time, to attend a session. 

While there, he was scouted by the men’s coach and quickly given the opportunity to train with the Paralympic squad preparing for London 2012. 

Those few months proved to be bittersweet for Tann, but it firmly entrenched the love for sitting volleyball that he retains to this day. 

“It was incredible really,” he said. “One day I wasn’t involved in sitting at all and the next I was training with the GB squad ahead of London 2012. 

“It’s a shame I hadn’t put myself forward a few months earlier, when I had thought about trying out, as I probably would have been on the team that competed, but at least I was part of the build-up. 

“I also got to be a Gamesmaker for the swimming and as part of my work for VE I got to take along some of the coaches who had coached GB athletes to the Games, so it was an amazing time in my life.” 

Fast-forwarding back to this season, Bucks have once again flown the flag for England in European competition – and have represented their nation with great distinction. 

Competing in the ParaVolley Europe Silver EuroLeague in Nantes, France, they were able to claim second place in their group. 

It meant that, for the first time, they have qualified for the Golden EuroLeague to be played in Lukavac, Bosnia and Herzegovina from 17th to 19th April. 

Tann said: “I can’t wait for the Bosnia trip because I love to play sitting and I love to travel... so it’s the perfect combination. 

“We’ve been gradually building in European competition. The first year we were pleased to win a set, last year we won a match and this year we have done well enough to get through to the next stage. 

“It’s going to be a challenge because we are going to be facing some of the best teams in Europe, but sometimes it is not all about winning.  

“We all want to win, and it’s a great feeling when you do, but we want to see our development and sometimes you can enjoy games just as much or more when you lose but you play your part in a competitive match or some cracking rallies.” 

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