2008 Event Staff Structure

Always looking to improve the UK School Games the UK Junior Volleyball Steering Group are pleased to announce the following Event Staff have been confirmed for the 2008 event.

Looking back to 2007 and forwards to 2008

 
Peter Parsons - Referee

What was your highlight from the 2007 UKSGs?

A difficult question to answer. I'm not sure I can pick one specific thing out of the whole experience. To be honest, the entire event was a highlight in itself.

What do you most look forward to about the 2008 UKSGs?

Working with all the other volunteers. Not just the other referees, but the scorers, line judges, court managers, and everyone else who gives up their time to contribute to the success of the event.

How do you prepare for a high profile, long weekend event like the UKSGs?

Preparation for an event like UKSG starts with accepting the appointment (back in April) and booking the time off from work to be able to be a part of the event. In the months leading up to the event it is a matter of completing the administrative requirements (event registration, CRB documentation etc.), as well as keeping my hand in as a referee. Although the summer is "out of season" for an indoor referee, I have been able to keep up to speed by refereeing at events such as the Jersey Open, the Crown Services tournament, Whitfield, and most recently, the European Universities Championships in Italy.

Finally, there is always preparation such as reading the Rules and Regulations of the tournament and familiarising myself with the protocols to be used at the event to be completed beforehand.

Martin Shakespeare - Referee/Lead Scorer

This will be my second UK Schools Games having officiated at the event in Coventry last year. This is a brilliant event for the competitors as it gives them the opportunity for meaningful competition in an International context with all the protocol and supporting staff that they will mostly not have seen before. For the officials it gives a chance to practice and improve skills; and for those attending an event of this type for the first time it is the opportunity to learn and to receive a number of feedback sessions from experienced Referee Observers.

It differs from other Junior events in that the players are the best of their year groups and so the overall standard is so much higher. Also the coaches seem to be calmed by the atmosphere and tend to be better behaved than they might be at National League level. Clearly also the organisation is more involved and complex than at other Junior events so everything is so much more smooth; all the officials who are there are there to do a job they have volunteered to do and don't need pressing or cajoling to Line or Score.

This competition comes at an awkward time for Referees as most have not refereed at any standard since April. The best preparation is a couple of days revision of the rules followed by offering to officiate a couple of scrimmage matches at a training session, in addition to checking back over any recent match observations (RC7s) to take forward recommendations.

I am particularly looking forward to this year as I have managed to get agreement for 3 dedicated scorers. This will free up referees from having to score as well as giving the scorers 3 days of practice of scoring good level volleyball where the majority of their skills as a scorer will be practiced. It will give me the opportunity to pass on my experiences as a Scorer to them, as all 3 have expressed a desire to score in 2012. In addition we can expose some of the Referees to the 'joy' of completing a Libero Control Sheet; something most of them will never have seen before, let alone attempted to complete.

The beauty of this competition is it allows exposure for officials at a level that it is difficult to replicate elsewhere outside of National Finals or the Internationals in Sheffield. For the players it will give them an experience that can only but enhance their skills and the opportunity to mix with other athletes that they would rarely get elsewhere.

Ben Brown - Statistics Coordinator

The highlight of 2007 was seeing a large scale professional event taking place. After putting in a lot of effort it always nice to see things going well and the event running smoothly. It was also nice to see that we got live scores on the Volleyball England website. One of the major highlights was definitely not having any major issues with the system (given we were using VIS!).

Looking forward to seeing the whole event take place again and also to see what changes and improvements have been put in place. A lot of the preparatory information I've been given suggests that this event is more like the Olympics than last year and I look forward to seeing the improvements. From a stats point of view this is the first time we have run systems on two courts similtaneously so I'm looking forward to the challenge of running both courts at once and any extra issues that will arise from this.

Preparation this year has been much easier due to the extended BVF programme. After having a number of large scale events such as the European League, its much easier to have faith in the system and gain more experience using it in competition situations. Preparation is fairly standard for most events and after European League I know what issues we need to look at before and during the event. I personally find it very important to plan early and be organised to ensure that I can fit the preparation around my work. Its good to know that things such as organisation volunteers can be left to others and I can just concentrate on the IT side of the event.

Andrew Scragg - Volunteer Coordinator/Competition Manager

What was your highlight from the 2007 UKSGs?

My highlight was definately meeting not just stars like Darren Campbell/Dame Kelly Holmes but stars of the future British Olympic Team

What do you most look forward to about he 2008 UKSGs?

How do you prepare for a high profile, long weekend event like the UKSGs?

I obviously look forward to events such as the UKSG, however I tend to take one step at a time and cease the moment as it comes.

What are your thoughts about attending in the role of competitions manager?

I am a bit aprehensive to be honest, a bit nervous, upon taking this highly important role on my shoulders, but feel with the expertice of the staff at Volleyball England and my previous experiance im sure I can stand up to the challenge!