Long-serving hub staff member Jonathan Moore reflects proudly on almost 15 years of service

As he prepares to leave the organisation this week, he can put a big tick in that particular box. 

Starting out as a Business Support Administrator, he has since worked with an estimated 250 members of staff and has called time on his stint with VE having climbed to the position of Strategic Manager for Major Events. 

During that time, he has played important roles at the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, Tokyo 2020 Paralympics and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, helping to deliver a home Games in all three disciplines of Volleyball. 

There has been plenty of hard work and many hours of graft, but he has enjoyed the journey and experience nonetheless, going from self-confessed Volleyball novice to one of the most trusted and knowledgeable figures in the sport in England and beyond. 

“I started out in an administrator role at Volleyball England,” said Jonathan. “I was living in Loughborough after studying here at university, studying a Masters in Sports Management. 

“I was very interested in the Olympic and Paralympic Games as an undergraduate – I did a project on the decision to award the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics to London – and I wanted to get involved in a sport where there was a pathway to them, and Volleyball England gave me that opportunity. 

“As a Masters student my dissertation project looked at the ‘Financial Management of International Sports Events in the UK’ working with UK Sport. I was interested in the bigger events right from the start. 

“On starting at Volleyball England, I was very quickly thrown in at the deep end. On day one I arrived at the Technology Centre, where we were then based, on the other side of the university campus from where we are now, and VE had seven employees at the time, with myself and the other two new starters, on the day, taking it to 10. 

“I remember I spent 11 out of 13 weekends in that first summer helping deliver events – grass and beach volleyball tournaments – that Volleyball England were involved in. It was good preparation for that first year where I worked primarily on the National Volleyball League.” 

Soon promoted to Business Support Officer with a focus for Competitions, Jonathan also volunteered at events run by the British Volleyball Federation, which included a number of matches that the GB team were involved in leading up to their home Games. 

He took on a Team Liaison role but was very interested in the organisation of the events, and the competition paperwork, which helped him secure a job at London 2012 as an Admin Group Leader for the Indoor and Sitting disciplines, where he ‘did a lot of paperwork in the background while the matches were going on’. 

After London finished, Jonathan returned to Volleyball England and was promoted to the Competitions Manager role, taking on the responsibility for all national and international competitions organised by Volleyball England. 

He said: “I learned quite a lot from my experiences at London 2012 and I was able to take that back to Volleyball England. 

“I went through two Volleyball England restructures, in 2013 and 2017, and carried on in that role all the way to 2020 when Covid-19 hit. I will never forget that day that we had the meeting which concluded that we had to cancel all the national competitions due to Covid-19 – it was a very sad day.” 

In 2017, Jonathan assumed the responsibility of being the Technical Delegate for World ParaVolley for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (which ultimately was delayed for a year by Covid-19), a role where he was able to use the expertise he had built up during the roles he had had to that point. 

“Working with Tokyo 2020 for the Games in Japan was a fantastic experience, and one that I am really proud of, we set a really high standard of delivery for the Games, it was just a shame that spectators never got to see it in-venue,” said Jonathan. 

Then, in March 2021, he took up a role with the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games to be the Sport Competition Manager for Beach Volleyball. 

He remembers it being great to play a central role in something that was deemed such a huge success – topped off by on-court success for England’s Bello brothers, Javier and Joaquin. 

“Birmingham 2022 was probably technically the biggest thing I have achieved, on home soil, we were able to do some amazing things 

 I will remember it for a long time to come, especially the team we built and the contribution of all the volunteers, and some great moments such as the rakers that broke into a dance that went viral. 

“The whole event went really well, and it was great to see after all the effort and long nights of planning that went into it. 

“I have seen the Bellos playing all the way through since they were 12 years old, so to be there and see them collect their bronze medals was quite a moment. 

“It is hard to put into words what that meant to everyone, the medal ceremonies are always the bit that pull on your emotions the most.” 

While the major events have been a big part of his time in volleyball, Jonathan has been just as proud of some of the smaller initiatives he has worked on at grass roots level.

He said: “There’s been so many good events down the years from Volleyball being involved at the School Games with England taking on the other Home Nations and the Inter Regionals, which brings so many people together. 

“The start of the BUCS Beach Volleyball Championships, that helped so many at university get into playing Beach Volleyball was another important milestone for the sport. After we got it up and running, we were able to link BUCS with another organisation who could take on the organisation and now it’s a thriving well-established event.” 

When Jonathan returned to Volleyball England after Birmingham 2022 in September last year, he briefly did so as the An Ace Service Strategic Manager under the new The Game Plan strategy. 

Then, in January of this year, he took up the Major Events Strategic Manager role, focusing on building connections, contacts and knowledge to enable events such as those under the Volleyball World, FIVB, CEV, Sportworx and NEVZA banners to be held in the England in the future. 

“A lot of work has been done to scope out the delivery of major events in England in the future,” said Jonathan. 

“I don’t necessarily like leaving it unfinished, but I just feel that it is the right time for me to leave, and what I have tried to do is leave things in a good position for someone else at Volleyball England to take forward. 

“I want to explore other opportunities and I am leaving happy with the contribution I have made over the years.” 

Reflecting overall on his time with Volleyball England, Jonathan hopes his efforts have been appreciated – and believes the sport has a bright future. 

He said: “I have been through some fantastic times and helped deliver some great events alongside some great people from the community. 

“You don’t think about the impact of doing a couple more hours, you just live it and breathe it, which I have done for all these years, and I’ve had help from so many people along the way... too many to mention them all by name, but they will all know who they are. Thanks to everyone who has been part of my journey at Volleyball England. 

“What is good to see is the enthusiasm of the group who currently work in the office. They are trying to do everything they can with the resources they have to elevate the sport. 

“When you see someone like Charlie (Ford) as CEO who has really strong ambitions to drive things forward, then it is really uplifting. 

“Hopefully, people will start to see and feel the difference with the new approach to promoting and supporting the Super League through the HUDL stats and increased promotion. 

“There is lot of good work going on in other areas too, and things are definitely moving in the right direction.”