Volleyball England launches new talent ID programme

Volleyball England has launched its new talent identification programme, Futures.

Through a series of testing, teams from Volleyball England will work alongside its clubs to find the next generation of elite players.

Adi Fawcett, talent manager at Volleyball England, said the team was ambitious and excited to see the delivery come to fruition after two years in the planning.

“It is exciting to finally see the project off the ground,” she said. “From its inception and the launch of the research to running the pilots, we’ve completed some robust research and analysis to make sure the programme is right for us.

“We believe we’re there and we’re looking forward to joining forces with our clubs and partners from other sports to recruit players and coaches onto the Volleyball England talent pathway.”

Volleyball Futures is a proactive approach to recruiting new volleyball players who may or may not have experience in the game but who demonstrate the attributes identified as key to the game. These include physical, psychological, technical and tactical.

A number of testing dates will be rolled out across the country from September 2016. In the two pilot events which ran earlier this year more than 300 athletes have been tested and received their personal feedback.

Alex Bialokoz, president of the Performance Commission, said: “This is definitely the right direction for the sport.

“There has been lots of hard work and thought gone into Volleyball Futures and I’m looking forward to seeing results of the programme.”

This year England has fielded a senior international team for the first time in over 10 years and the launch of Volleyball Futures aims to support the talent pathway to these sides.

It is the first time since 2012 that England will be represented by teams from under 17 to senior age groups, competing at top level, international competitions.

Lisa Wainwright, chief executive of Volleyball England, said: “Volleyball Futures is a key work stream for us in as part of our Strategy 2024.

“Our ambition is to develop a best in class talent ID and tracking system and this is the first steps to reaching that goal.

“We’re looking forward to an exciting future for volleyball.

“A number of partners have been involved in developing this programme and we would like to thank them for their invaluable support and input.”

• University of Essex
• Sheffield Hallam University
• England Indoor and Beach Coaches
• Strength & Conditioning and Psychology practitioner leads
• Sport England
• TASS

If you would like to find out more about Volleyball Futures, please contact Adi Fawcett on A.Fawcett@volleyballengland.org or download our booklet here.

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Volleyball England launches new talent ID programme