With there being no current active Welsh Volleyball Association, all volleyball within Welsh boundaries comes under Volleyball England’s jurisdiction.

Currently there is a major push to improve both the number of participants and level of juniors playing volleyball in Wales with the long term aim of entering teams into the UK School Games and consequently giving full UK representation at the event. It is the aim to get Welsh representation at the 2009 UK School Games, which is due to be held in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport, the first time the event has gone to Wales itself.

What is the UK School Games?

The UK School Games is a multi-sport event for the most talented young people in the country of school age. The current list of sports that young athletes compete in is: Athletics, Badminton, Fencing, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo, Swimming, Table Tennis and Volleyball.

Each of the nine sports are combined into a four-day Games environment designed to replicate the feel of major events such as the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games. The aim is for the Games to grow and for there to be the introduction of more sports each year leading towards 2012.

The UK School Games will seek to create an inspirational and motivational setting which will encourage more young people to take part in sport and is managed by the Youth Sports Trust.

The UKSGs in the Past

In 2007, 6 boys and 6 girls teams competed in their respective UKSGs competition which was ran using a Round Robin format with the top two playing in the final for the honour of becoming the UKSGs Champions. Each competition is made up of 3 English Teams, 2 Scottish Teams and 1 team from Northern Ireland. The Age-groups for the two competitions are as follows:

• Boys U-17s as of 1st September
• Girls U-16s as of 1st September

The UKSGs in 2007 went to Coventry and were a huge success in all areas. The event started with all English teams going to a 3 day Holding Camp in Nottingham for final training and preparations for the event that took place in Coventry from the 23rd – 26th August.

The Boys competition was dominated by England Central but they were pushed close by England South. The Girls Competition started with Scotland West beating the eventual winners but unfortunately they experienced a couple of injuries and narrowly missed out on the final in which England North beat England South.

For any information relating to Junior Volleyball in Wales please contact Matt Rogers on m.rogers@volleyballengland.org

UK School Games Website – www.ukschoolgames.com

Download a poster about Volleyball in Wales below:
Wales Poster 1
Wales Poster 2