Sitting Grand Prix three preview (7th December) - Allen thrives off community feel

Starting off playing in the Sitting Grand Prix for Manchester Marvels in ‘2016 or 2017’, he was forced to have a rethink after that club unfortunately folded. 

But there was never any question of him continuing... it was more a question of where. 

“When I was in my 30s, I thought I needed to do some activity to keep in some kind of shape,” said Steve. “That’s when I went along to a taster session organised by VE in Stoke-on-Trent. 

“I had fun. I’d remember seeing it before and thinking it would be good to try because it’s the way I move around anyway. 

“I found the movement side of it easy enough to pick up because, as I said, I was used to that, but it was the playing sport side of it I found hard at first as I had never really played sport before, so it was quite a new one on me. 

“The reactions and skill set needed on court were quite alien to me – and some people would say it still is! 

“I only have one hand so finding out a way to consistently hit a volleyball was a challenge. 

It’s quite sporadic training with Nottingham because of timings. I will be attempting to go to Nottingham in the New Year because there are new facilities that I haven’t seen yet, which is quite exciting. 

“The problem is that the Nottingham training can clash with the GB training, so I try to get there whenever I can.” 

Since starting out with little in the way of volleyball experience, Steve has become an accomplished player who has been proud to pull on the international shirt. 

He’s looking forward to working under the new GB programme, where Krystian Kowalski and Justin Phillips are the new men’s and women’s Head Coaches respectively. 

Steve said: “It’s been a fantastic experience to play for GB and if you had told me 10 years ago that I would win caps, then I wouldn’t have believed you. 

“It’s a really good way to improve because you get to play with the best players in this country and against some of the best players from other countries. 

“We have a new GB programme now and we are looking to see what level we can get to. 

“My favourite experience so far was playing at the World Cup in Egypt – a chance to play against the gold standard, in every sense of the word.” 

This Sunday’s third Sitting Grand Prix of the 2025-26 season falls in the middle of Disability History Month, which runs from 20th November to 20th December. 

Steve - who was born without legs above the knee and without his left forearm – is proud of the role that sitting volleyball plays in helping to underline what disabled people can do, rather than what they can’t. 

“Anything that shows disabled people achieving things can only be good, especially demonstrating what they can do on social media,” he said. “If disabled people hide away, then that is not how we are going to get progress. 

“I think people in the sitting community are a little bit more open-minded. I have met so many people who are disabled in so many different ways who are achieving so much. 

“I think it has been the competition that I have enjoyed about the sport. I’ve always been a competitive person and winning is a good feeling. 

“It was also a new challenge... something that was quite different from the other things I have done.” 

While Steve’s Nottingham Casualties have not been the most successful side in the first two rounds, they have enjoyed some success and made progress. 

He is a fan of the new-look format because it gives the lower-ranked teams a glimpse of how good they can eventually be. 

Steve said: The first two GPs were really good. I think the new competition format, in my eyes at least, has been a success. 

“You get at least one game against the top teams, from Tier 1 in previous seasons. It’s a great way to experience the level we are looking to get to as a team. 

“We have performed well in both of those initial matches then we have won our other games to effectively be the best of the rest. 

I certainly think the standard is being raised and there are not as many scrappy matches as in previous seasons.” 

As much as Steve has enjoyed laying for Casualties, he hopes, one day, that a team will return to his native North West. 

“All the teams that have continued success both in terms of performance and their longevity have a strong pool of enthusiastic people who will turn up to training every time,” he said. 

“I think you need at least four or five of those people and in the aborted team attempts in Manchester we didn’t have that. 

“The other thing that really helps is when the results start coming... it’s amazing how much a few wins help and with Nottingham we are now competitive in all our matches. 

“It’s been a great way to meet people and there is a real community feel. You get the odd explosive moment like in any sport, but people are almost always very friendly. 

“Everyone wants everyone to get better and enjoy having other teams to compete against.”

Find out more about the Sitting Grand Prix here and how you can get involved in sitting volleyball here.