Celebrations planned to mark Wessex's 50th anniversary

The club was originally founded in 1976 under the name of Poole Thumpers by former Volleyball England Chief Executive Geoff Allen – and he has continued to remain actively involved ever since. 

He started the club with a junior girls’ team that he was coaching and a boys’ team soon followed, with the junior sections continuing to be the bedrock of the club. 

Wessex subsequently entered men's and ladies’ teams in the National Volleyball League (NVL) who, with Geoff as coach, worked their way up their respective leagues into the top national volleyball divisions. 

Today, the South Coast club is still active in the NVL and Geoff (pictured above with Rajinder Singh at Volleyball England's 70th Anniversary Celebration Ceremony) still plays an integral part as a board member and through his hugely-experienced coaching. 

Over the years, Wessex have won two English National Cup Senior titles, numerous local and regional titles and over 40 National Junior Championships including a ‘Grand Slam' - winning all of the National Junior Championships for U16 and U18 boys and girls in the same year. 

Many Wessex players have achieved representative honours in indoor and beach volleyball, playing for South West England, England Cadets, England Juniors and the England and Great Britain senior teams. 

This includes three players who competed in the London 2012 Olympic Games (Dan Hunter, Lucy Schulze - née Wicks - and Ben Pipes) and two in the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Jess Grimson and Vicky Palmer).

Throughout its existence, Wessex has catered for indoor and beach volleyball at all levels, including a junior section to provide opportunities for young people between the ages of 10 and 18 years to receive coaching and competition in events ranging from local mini volleyball tournaments to national cups. 

For adult members, there are opportunities for all levels to compete in the national, South West Regional, Dorset County and local Poole, Bournemouth and District competitions.  

The club has remained one of the top all-round volleyball clubs in England across its 50 years. 

If you wish to contact the club about their 50th anniversary celebration plans, please email via 50th@wessexvolleyball.com or if you have a general enquiry via info@wessexvolleyball.com.