Sitting Grand Prix 5 preview: Lever grateful for second sporting chance

It’s little wonder then, that as the 31-year-old prepares to give his all for the Nottingham Casualties in this weekend’s Sitting Grand Prix 5, he is eternally grateful he has found a sport where he still gets the opportunity to push himself hard. 

Adam was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer in 2011 and spent much of 2012 undergoing chemotherapy. Eventually, he had an operation on one of his legs to remove the tumour, which resulted in him needing a prosthesis. 

For someone who took his sport pretty seriously, it was a devastating blow, and, for a time, he thought a part of his life that meant so much to him was over. 

But then, in 2017, he took the decision to see what he could still do when it came to sport by attending the Limbpower Games in Birmingham, an event where people can have a go at a wide range of pursuits. 

It was there that he discovered what Sitting Volleyball had to offer – and was quickly hooked. 

Before long, he was playing for his nearest team in Loughborough and now plays for the Casualties in his home city. 

“What happened to me with the cancer diagnosis was a massive shock, as were the repercussions of how things changed for me physically, because sport – and competing – was always such a big part of my life,” said Adam. 

“Thankfully, after the operation, I made a good recovery and got better, but I didn’t think at that point that I would be able to participate in sport again, let alone compete. When I lost the ability to play sport, I almost lost my sense of identity. 

“But it was at the Limbpower Games that I came across Sitting Volleyball. I just had 30 minutes sat on a court giving it a go and I really enjoyed it. 

“Luckily for me, they were setting up a team in Loughborough and I was able to get involved from there. I realised that I was able to adapt the way I did things and compete pretty well, because I was keen not just to participate and enjoy it, but have that competition element as well. 

“I’d played a little bit of Indoor Volleyball at school, so I knew the basic skills, but I had never heard of sitting prior to trying it. 

“The great thing about the sport is that once I’m playing a game, I don’t feel my disability anymore. In most sports I’m instantly at a disadvantage, but not in sitting, where I am able to move around and take part at a good level. 

“It’s great how disabled and non-disabled people can take part together in a truly inclusive environment. It’s also a very welcoming sport where, whether you’ve just started playing or you’ve been playing for a while, you’re very quickly made to feel part of the community.” 

The 2023-24 Sitting Grand Prix has been one of ups and downs – literally – for Nottingham Casualties as they had bounced between Tier 1 and Tier 2 for much of the campaign. 

But Adam has definitely seen plenty of progress in the team and is hoping for even better things in the 2024-25 season on the back of a summer recruitment drive. 

He said: “I believe the Casualties team was set up by the indoor men’s and women’s club of the same name, with support from the Volleyball England Foundation, and it’s developed from there. 

“People always wonder about the name for a Sitting Volleyball side, but the reason for it is because the club was originally set up and run out of the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC), which is a hospital. 

“A lot of the club’s standing players have given sitting a go and now play both. Hopefully over the summer we can pull in some more players, because we want to make sure the team is sustainable. 

“This season we have managed to get a side out for every Grand Prix and we have been what you would call a yo-yo club, but I think we have still exceeded expectations because we didn’t really have any at the start of the season, with it being our first proper one. 

“Playing in both tiers has given us the chance to play all the teams and we have probably won more games than we thought we would. 

“We have enjoyed testing ourselves against the better teams and, I think, played better against those teams. We have certainly been in contention against them and it is a good learning process for us as a lot of players are still learning the sport.” 

For his day job, Adam works as a Disability Sport Officer for the University of Nottingham and it has helped him gain a wider appreciation of the disability sport landscape. 

He hopes that his connections in his professional life can help grow the Casualties club and help form links with the student population. 

“It’s great to see environments where disabled people have the opportunity to play sports, but I also get to see through my work that a lot of people make the assumption that disabled just want to take part, not compete,” he said. 

“It’s true that some do just want to take part, it works for some, but there are others, like me, who still enjoy that element of competition, and that’s where competing in the Grand Prix once a month gives me the chance to do that. 

“Through my work, the long-term hope is that there can be a link between the Casualties team and the University of Nottingham. 

“It’s not only an opportunity to potentially base ourselves there, but also to engage with the student community and get them involved with the sport too.” 

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