NEWS FROM FORMER JUNIORS

The new year is here and 2012 is upon us. With less than 200 days to go till the start of the Olympics and no ones place in the squad safe, we are all with our clubs in Europe working hard towards the summer. This is my second season in Holland and the team has become a lot stronger, and has a lot more depth. We are currently sat in 4th position in the league, but we are disappointed that we haven’t been in the top 3.
 
The first half of the season has been pretty good, although we lost poorly to the top teams. We did manage to beat every team below us, only dropping a single set. Our focus is on building the team that gets stronger through the season, so that we peak our performance during the playoffs. However, it is not nice losing to teams we could and should have beaten. This year we have a real derby match playing against Reflex Kampen. They are the town next to us, and are recently promoted to the A-league. They brought 400 travelling supporters to the match we played at home in November and the noise from the 1000+ supporters in our hall was fantastic. Our sports hall was full and we beat them 3-0. Perfect derby match for us!
 
Last weekend we played the team in 3rd place and were 24-21 up in the 4th set, somehow we lost the set and the match 3-1. Chances like this are hard to come by and it was very disappointing for us.
We currently have 8 matches left in the league, before we start the playoffs in March. We are also through the quarter final of the cup, which will be played in February. We are still training twice a day every day, this year I am playing with Ben Pipes (GB Captain) and Peter Bakare. It’s nice to have GB team members playing in Europe together. It helps the focus and keeps you working hard, week in week out.
 
Looking ahead with less than 200 days to go and potentially 23 matches left to play here in Holland, and then if selected for GB we will have matches with them. It is going to be a very busy build up to the Olympics. It is a very exciting time for us and Volleyball in the UK and all of the guys are working constantly on the court, in the gym and with the tactical analysis to make sure we have the best chances to be a shock at the Olympics against the World’s best. Hopefully with my next report I can bring some really good news like reaching the cup final! .

Nicky went to Arnewood School, New Milton and joined Wessex as a junior

SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER 2011
The 2011-2012 volleyball season is now underway in most European countries.  Following a 6 week intense block of pre-season training and tournaments, we started our season four weeks ago.  This Saturday is our fourth match in one week, more than the average, but at least Sunday is our first one off in ten weeks.  (Perhaps time to treat myself with a full English breakfast!)  A normal week includes training twice a day on the court, weights twice a week in the gym, at least two preparatory video sessions for the week’s match, and at least one game.  One day rest.  And go again. No free weekends until Christmas….. This is the all singing, all dancing life of a pro volleyball player….

I live in a city called Schaffhausen, just outside of Zurich in Switzerland.  It’s right on the River Rhein, which was great in the first few weeks as a replacement to an ice bath after training!  It’s turned somewhat colder now and although not in the Alps, will no doubt be seeing snow within the next few weeks. Switzerland is a beautiful country, and Schaffhausen sits right on the Rheinfall, Europe’s biggest waterfall.  Admittedly, it’s no Niagara Falls, but makes for a good view at least…  The other girls from the British team preparing over the Winter are in France, Germany, Poland, Holland, Spain, Finland and the USA.  The GB Libero (back court specialist), Maria Bertelli, also plays in Switzerland and next week will see GB versus GB as we face her team, Volley Koeniz, in the first of two league games.  

My team, VC Kanti Schaffhausen, consists of four Swiss girls, two Americans, one German, two Spanish, another British team mate and me.  A volleyball squad is normally 12, but professional teams frequently carry less players, and we have eleven.  There are 3 of us in my position, the middle hitter/blocker role.  We play in the Swiss league, which after the 4 games we’ve played, we are ranked 3rd out of 9 teams.  We also play in the European CEV Challenge Cup.  There are different levels of European competition, kind of like football, with the top teams from each country playing and Champions League being the best level.  
 
So, in the recent weeks, we’ve won two of the four league games and beaten a Swedish team in the first round of the European Cup.  We went to Sweden the first weekend and then played them at home the second.  We won both games convincingly and could breathe a sigh of relief going through now to play the Azores Islands of Portugal in November.  
 
For me, a big thing in my position is blocking.  I have to provide a stable block at all positions along the net, regardless of which hit the opposition decides to do.  If it’s a good block, it can score a direct point, or make it very easy for the players behind me to defend the ball.  A weak block means the opposition can score easily. As you’re involved in every play, it’s a crucial element to getting right.  We run the first speed of attack too, which means springing up at all areas of the net and hitting a very quick ball.  
 
So tonight we train again in preparation for Saturday’s game.  Another must win game in order to stay on track for a top 5 place in the league.  First up, a little relaxation watching Greys Anatomy!

I started playing volleyball when I was 16 years old and my older sister invited me along to a session at Wessex volleyball club. I fell in love with the sport straight away and have never looked back. I was coached by Trevor Rothwell, Sarah Hopkins, Vince Joyce and Richard Cannon at Wessex and they all had a huge impact on both my volleyball career and increasing my confidence in general.

At 18 I left Wessex and moved to Loughborough to study and train full time with the England Development Programme. During this time I was part of the England Senior Women’s team and also represented GB students in 2 World University Games - (Beijing & South Korea)

I moved to London when I was 22 to play for Malory under the coaching of Jefferson Williams. I owe a lot to both him and Audrey Cooper (England Senior and GB Womens’ coach) for developing me as a setter.

In 2007 a GB Women’s team was formed and I, along with a number of other England Senior Women and some of the Scottish Senior Women, relocated to Sheffield to train full time. During the past 3 years we have improved immensely and have competed with some of the top teams in the World.
I have spent the last 2 seasons playing pro in Europe.

Last year I was in France and this current season I am in Germany playing in the 1st Bundesliga (the top league in Germany) .

In my last E-News I shared with you my experiences during Pre-Season. Our playing season is now well underway and so far it has been an emotional roller coaster, not only for the team, but also for me personally.

We had a tough start to the season with matches against all the top 4 teams in our first 5 matches. With the team only being finalised a week before our first game we still had a few teething problems but we fought hard and picked up 2 wins and a narrow loss in 5 to a team who are still yet to lose a game.

We then had a month break in the season as the Volleyball World Cup took place in Japan, (one of the Qualifying tournaments for the Olympics), and one which involved many players from our league. As Great Britain has already qualified we weren’t involved, but a few of our players rejoined their National Teams in the hope of joining us in the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The league started again at the end of November and it has been a rough road. On paper we are a very strong team but we weren’t showing it in games. We were underperforming and following a dreadful defeat to local rivals, (Münster), in 3 sets, confidence was low. We were then hit with bad news……our BIG signing - Angelina Grun (#15) announced that she was leaving after receiving an offer she couldn’t refuse from Champions League team Moscow Dynamo (one of the best Clubs in Europe). This news came less than 6 weeks after she had joined our team and, within a week of us being given the news, she was off. There was a mix of reactions to Angelina’s news, but most people understood why she has left for this Club and have now accepted her decision. Despite the loss of Angelina, December started well, with 3 wins and another close 5 set loss against last year’s Champions. But we still weren’t playing to our potential and we definitely weren’t functioning well as a team.

Following Angelina’s departure it took a while for our team to settle again and tensions were high. We needed a new replacement player and we needed one quick. The club eventually settled on an American - a young player who won’t make an impact right away, but the Club want to train her up over the next couple of years.

We hit our lowest point as a team 2 days before Christmas when we lost to the team sitting at the bottom of the league in front of our home crowd. It should have been a straight forward 3-0 win but we were awful. With every ball we touched, we made an error. The look on everyone’s face was pure panic. We made a lot of changes but could still do nothing. We lost 3-0 to a very average side. They didn’t win it, we threw it away. This game will stay with me forever. The feeling of letting the club and our fans down was terrible and after games like this anyone can get fired!

Being away from home for Christmas was tough, especially when our season was going so badly. With my lifestyle, it is difficult to find time to spend with my family so I have always cherished Christmas - a time when we would usually all come back home together even if just for a day. Thankfully, advances in technology meant I could still see my family even if it was via Skype and my computer screen! Our physio and his family very kindly invited Ciara Michel, my other GB team mate, and myself, to their home for a traditional German Christmas. Very different to what we were used to - and a little bit strange as they celebrate on the 24th!!

We were back training on Christmas Day, and after such a performance before Christmas we were not going to complain. Confidence and morale was at an all time low and we only had 2 days before our next game. We had an emergency psychology session which was more of a confidence building exercise and, come game day, we all turned up with a better attitude and were walking tall again. It was another home game and it just showed how amazing our supporters are. It was our biggest crowd of the season to date…..they are no glory supporters!! It ended up being our best game of the season so far and it was a real team performance. Unfortunately we lost again in 5 but we could hold our heads up high as we played brilliantly as a team - it also reignited my passion for volleyball. It reminded me of why I love my job and how enjoyable it can be when we play well. The past couple of months have made me mentally stronger and I feel I am ready to face the next 7 months in preparation for the biggest games of my life - a home Olympics.

2012 has started well. We won our first game of the New Year 3-0 against Hamburg who are lying in 5th place in the league. We built on our performance from the week before and hopefully this will continue for the rest of the season. The first half of the season is now over and we have a tough few months ahead. We are now 9th out of 14 teams. Not a great position and we will need to have an outstanding second half to get into the top 8 for playoffs. It is definitely achievable, but we will need to dig deep to ensure our loss just before Christmas does not haunt us for the remainder of the season.

Angelina Grun is not a player who can easily be replaced and losing her has left a void in our team. However, I believe that if we continue to pull together as a team and play for each other we can still cause upset to some of the top teams in the Bundesliga. We proved that in our first game of 2012 against Hamburg. After all, volleyball is a team sport and individuals can’t win games at this level on their own.

You can now follow me on Twitter @lucywicks2 for regular updates on me and my ‘Pro’ life.
For updates on the GB National team visit our website www.gbwomensvolleyball.co.uk or follow us on Facebook ‘Great Britain Women’s Volleyball Team’ and Twitter @GBRVolleyball

As for me in Holland, I am progressing well. I have been here over 3 months now and am very settled and progressing within the team.
For the first 6 weeks of pre-season, my team was playing very well and won 9 out of 11 games (only losing to two of the top German Bundesliga teams) I was also getting my court time with the other two middles and progressed very quickly to get upto speed with the much higher level.

After the 6 weeks, our competitive season started. However the season did not start well with us losing a close 3-2 in the first game and then throwing away a 2-0 lead to lose 2-3 in the second game. From this the teams confidence in winning was knocked heavily and it showed in our volleyball for the next few matches of which we managed to grind out wins against the smaller teams, but further losses against the other top teams. At current I am the third choice middle, behind two highly experienced ex Dutch national team players, so I do not get started much. But I was given my chance against the Champions from last season when one of the other middle players got injured, so I took the oppurtunity with both hands and played the best level I could, being rewarded with the Man of the Match.

On the 17th of November, we had our biggest challenge yet in the European Challenge Cup against the Polish team Tytan Czestochowa. Now with the likes of Dawid Murek and the fact that they were second in the Polish Plus Liga, we knew that we would have to play at our very best to compete. It was a two leg match, with the first being at our gym. They took the first two sets very narrowly and we grabbed the third and pushed them all the way in the fourth but their quality held out when it was needed.

The following week we travelled to Poland to play in their gym, and what a gym it was with a capacity of 4000. Come game night we were hoping for a full house but due to it being mid week they filled half of it, which was still 2000 people. The atmosphere was amazing with the crowd singing for their team (as like a football match) and treating us all like superstars. Unfortunately again their quality at the final stage of the match meant that they won 3-0 but we played a very good match and were very happy with our performance.
For us, these good performances against a top team will hopefully act as the catalyst in turning our poor start to the season around and us coming good in the second half of the season and pushing for the play-off final!

As for me personally, I have improved a lot since I have been here and have learnt a great deal from the other two middles in my team. From January I will hope to be really pushing for the starting spot on the team and showing my coach what I can do for the success of the team.
 

I was introduced to volleyball when I was 11 years old at school by Trevor Rothwell, after a few years of playing for fun, I decided to take it a little more serious.  With the help of Lynn, Geoff, Vince & Gary Joyce, I was able to win 2 junior National titles and force my way into the England program.

I represented England at the Junior Europeans in Bosnia. Ater this I moved to Sheffield to go to university and play volleyball. Over the 3 years at uni I have been able to compete in European and World tournements such as World Uni games in Serbia. Looking back I am glad I chose to give Volleyball a chance and take it more seriously. It has enabled me to travel Europe (some good, some bad places) and play against some of the best players in the world.

So only 4 months have passed since I last blogged, the combination of various things have meant I couldn't do things sooner. I also apologise in advance if this turns into something the same length as The Lord of The Rings trilogy. So here goes my attempt at casting my mind back to my last few months in Sweden.

February- February brought the last month of the regular season and on paper our hardest month of the season, with 3 away games and only 1 home game. We had an undefeated home record in 2011, whereas we had only won once on the road since the turn of the year, so the trips to Falkoping, Linkoping and Sollentuna where always going to be difficult, especially with everyone in the race for a high seeding for the playoffs. To cut the month short, we went to Falkoping, played well in the 1st set and won easily, we were up in the 2nd set, and thought we would sit back and relax as the game was in the bag. However it wasnt, we lost the 2nd shortly followed by the 3rd and 4th set and with that another loss on the road in 2011. The following week brought a comfortable 3-0 home win against Habo. Then came a big away game for the race for 3rd seed, against our old rivals Linkoping, we lost at there place all 4 times last season (3 times in the play offs), we were determined to finally get a win in the massive gym. After losing the 1st set, we served them off the court in the 2nd including possibly my best service run of my entire life, which included 3 aces. However, as seemed our routine away from home in 2011 we lost the 3rd and then got walked over in the 4th, so yet another loss away from the jungle and another  loss to Linkoping, this also meant are hopes of getting the 3rd seed where hugely damaged, and that was confirmed when we lost away to the number 1 team sollentuna 3-0 the following saturday. This meant we would have the 'hardest' play off quarter final against Falkoping. This was there 2nd year in the big league and the best set of Swedish Junior for a long time, also they had never won or even taken a set in our gym and we had never won in theres, so it had all the prospects of long series. As it was a long time ago I dont really remember anything that happend off the court in the month of February

March- so March madness began with the Mother coming across to see the frozen sea of Helsingborg and to watch game 1 of Quarter finals of the play offs. The game went to form and we won 3-0 (a pattern will start emerging soon), we then traveled up to falkoping a few days later, in front of a decent crowd for them we went down 3-2 and 17-15 in a tight 5th set, we even had match point, but one of our guys made a service error. After the game we got a rollocking from our coach and some stern words from our sports director, there was also two more rollockings before the 3rd game, so the sense of dejavu was all around, 1-1 in games just like last season, and the win streaks at home for each team hadnt been broken. The pattern continued with us winning 3-0 again at home, this gave us the chance to travel to falkoping and win the series on there home court, however no streaks where ended as we suffered yet another loss this time 3-1, the only upside as we talked in the locker room after was that the final game was at our place and there record at our place wasnt exactly prolific. So on a sunny Thursday evening the cliches were rolled out again that are always linked with final game deciders. Despite a bit of an early wobble we won the first 2 sets easy, then found ourselves in a bit of hole/thought we would make it interesting in the 3rd set, which we managed to block our way out of, and yet again win 3-0.

There was more relief than celebration and to top it all the sun had turned to snow storms. And snow means slush, and I hate slush. So due to the nature of us having to play all 5 games of our series and our next oppents the Number 1 seed sollentuna had dusted there series off in 3 games, it meant we were on the bus the next day to travel to stockholm. After the travel day came game day, The first 2 sets were pretty much a write off as I think we were all still tired from the previous 5 games in 11 days, we came to life a bit in the 3rd but went down 33-31, so after a pretty quick trip home and a few whiskeys to reflect on things, we got a few days rest and time to recharge for the 2nd game at home, we had a great crowd in and dispite losing the 1st we battled back to take the next 3 straight to win 3-1 and tie the series at 1-1. The game was quality purely for the fact that our back up opposite played the full game and played the game of his life and rightly so got a standing ovation at the end of the game and MVP honours, throw in the fact he is a local boy, it was real roy of the rovers stuff. So back on the road we went to stockholm and in search of the eternal win on the road, however the pattern continued as we went down 3-2. It was a strange game, the vibe from the bench wasnt its normal self and we all seemed to be scratching our heads as to what was going on.

After the game we got a rollocking, a few small points that made where true, however the overall rollocking we didnt feel was warranted, we had just lost in a tie break to a team that had lost one league game all season, and to that point in the season had not lost at home. As a result when we were talking amongst ourselves the mood was quite buoyant, it didnt feel like another mediocre away performance that seemed to be our 2011 repertoire. All this meant that the game at home was a must win, otherwise that was our season over and the dreams of winning the gold would be over. With a packed home crowd, we were all up for it, however the first 2 sets we always seemed to be playing catch up and only seemed to fight when the set was 'beyond' us, so 2-0 down in a must win game, we at least wanted to go out with a fight, a few tweaks and we came out flying, and into the fact there best player/most annoying/captain got a yellow card only fueled our third set dominance, the only down side was that after getting a yellow, he should of got a red for refusing to talk to the first ref when he was summoned, we were grateful of the yellow card though as the 3 times we played up in stockholm the refs bottled it . Winning the 3rd set was our only highlight though as we sort of lost the 4th set by a wimper and with that our first defeat at home in 2011 meant our season was over and just like last season we had fallen to the number 1 seed in the semi finals yet again. However for sollentuna despite dominating the league they lost to Falkenberg in the finals, thus completing the treble for Falkenberg.

Looking back it was of course a fun season and of course it was filled with ifs and buts, but everything is. It seemed for us it was a season of two halves, before xmas we couldnt stop winning away after xmas we couldnt really buy an important away victory. Before xmas we were 3-2 at home and 4-0 away from home. After losing the 2 games at Grand prix at the start of the new year we then went 4-0 at home and 1-4 away, then come play off time we went 4-1 at home and 0-4 away. All this meant that April was a chance to party with all the swedes.

Also april meant watching the EVS girls yet again lose out 3-2 in the Final to Katrineholm, they did well to come back from 2-0 in the series, but the 5th game they seemed to fall apart, After one last party at the EVS end of season gala, it was time to return back to England and leave the place I have called 'home' for the past 18 or so months and leave all the people that I had come in to contact with. It is weird leaving people that have had an impact on your life in such a short time and not knowing when you will see them again. So in no particular order Joe, Kalle, Anton, Niklas, Martin, The Bjorcks, Tetatoo, Barbie, Carlos (for the 1st year),Anette the Spazzer, Emmie, Iza, Frojd + wife to be & the cat, Robin, Muck you crazy crazy japanese girl, Svante (even if you support liverpool), Kristian, Erin for making me and Joes life so easy to abuse you, Polska for being weird and the guy in Engelholm that makes the Zlatan pizza. If I missed you off the list, its not because I dont like, but there are to many people to name and I would be here all night.

So that is my farewell to sweden and the end of my "First country to play abroad in" chapter. Thus meaning a start of a new chapter. Luckily for me it is in a place where I hope there is less snow and the language may be a little less gay than swedish. In Mid may I had the pleasure of flying to paris to try out for a team based 30 minutes outside the centre of Paris, the town was nice, it sits along the river seine, its quiet small, the president of the club says there isnt much to do there,  After a few days training, a trip to paris and the coach and president forcing german beer down me before I flew home, they said they would like me to play on there team for next season. So where one door closes another one opens as they say.

It seems like a million years ago now when I first walked into the gym at the Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre in Wimborne. I was 13 years old and met Geoff Allen for the first time along with the other legendary Wessex coaches, Annetta Minard and Sarah Hopkins.

It was a summer volleyball course for kids called Champion Coaching, and it was where I got my first taste of this strange new sport! I don’t remember much about the training except that after every session my arms were red raw from practicing digging and that we got a t-shirt and a little booklet with coaching points in, and a section at the back for us to write our short and long term goals.

I remember a couple of the long term goals I made, and it’s safe to say I must have written them on an extremely ambitious day! The first was to one day play for the English national team, and the second was to be able to spike jump 1 meter. I would love to be able to find that booklet now, but it is probably tucked away very safely in the loft somewhere.

By the end of the 6 week coaching course, I was already pretty much hooked on the sport and spent every day just looking forward to the next training session. Then we were given details of the Wessex junior training times, and invited along.

However... the next day, I got a phone call from Geoff Allen that I will never ever forget. It turns out that he is also the head coach of the England South Cadets Volleyball Squad, and he wants me to come along next weekend to train with the squad!!!!!

From a very nervous and shy start at that first England South training camp at Broadstone Sports Centre, I think it is safe to say I never looked back! I was completely addicted, and took every chance I could get to play. I joined the Wessex junior men’s squad, under the expert eye of Lynn Allen (who  I can honestly say I was scared to death of), for fear of a punishment of a hundred thousand press-ups!) From then on, the National Cup Finals became the highlight of my year, even overtaking Christmas! I played alongside so many extremely talented players in these years, and was a part of Wessex teams which won the under 16 competition twice and the under 18 competition 4 years in succession.

If we take a jump forward by about 16 years from my first ever experience of volleyball, I am now lucky enough to have experienced so much through the sport. I have travelled with the national team to places everywhere from Belarus to Saudi Arabia and the Pyramids in Egypt, I have lived and made volleyball my career in a number of countries around Europe, I have met and worked with a number of incredible coaches and players, and it has been an honour to pull on the national team shirt on 120 occasions. Now I am sat chilling in my apartment in deepest darkest Sweden, buzzing from this evenings practice, and having just written this, I can’t help but think... where would I be right now if I hadn’t taken that nervous deep breath and walked into the sports centre on day one at Queen Elizabeth School???

It is 10am in the morning and there is a ring of the doorbell.

The evening before had seen the fourth game of the league finals, and after a 35-33 win in the fourth set, we had finally been crowned Swedish Champions. What followed the final point can only be described as complete and utter chaos. There was champagne sprayed from the referees stand, players running around the sports hall in their underwear, gold hats for everyone, gold beers handed out, our die-hard supporters who had braved the 14 hour round trip were frantically hugging all the players, there were endless chants of "SM Guld, SM Guld, SM Guld"... and naturally the club chairman ended up unceremoniously dumped in the showers still wearing his suit!

So as you can imagine, after leaving Tierp at about 9pm for the 7 hour bus ride/party home (which, I remember, involved our coach drunkenly calling his boss somewhere around midnight to tell him he wouldn't be in in the morning), then arriving home at some unearthly hour, all added up to us really not enjoying the doorbell waking us up just a few hours later.

I was sharing an apartment with Andy Sinclair, who some might know for his infamous 'windmill of doom' arm swing and misguided love for Middlesbrough FC. After an eternity of ignoring the doorbell and hoping the world would go away for at least a few more hours, it was finally Andy who broke and went to answer the door. As soon as the door swung open, he was face to face with a TV4 camera crew and reporter who wanted nothing more than to sit in our horrifically dirty kitchen and talk about the game! So if nothing else, we can boast that we are now members of a very elite group of people who have been on Swedish tv in our pyjamas!

I wanted to use this story to show the glamourous, fun side of playing professional volleyball, and it really is what makes the endless hours of hitting, blocking, serving, passing, setting and defence practice all worthwhile. However as you can imagine, the are two sides to every story. When things are going well then the sport really couldn't be easier, but as soon as things don't go according to plan, I have realised things can get pretty ugly pretty fast.

During the 08-09 season I was playing for Salzburg in the Austrian league. It was an amazing year which I will never forget. I had a room in one of the players apartments, it was situated a 2 minute walk from the National Sports Training Centre (which meant a lot of competition for space in the weights room with the likes of the Austrian Ski Team) and placed right on the edge of a mountain range called the alps, or something like that.

Everything started off pretty well. The club had spent a considerable amount of money putting the team together. In our ranks, we had a German, a Czech, a Serbian, an Australian, a couple of Austrians, and me. Therefore with big spending comes big expectation, and my coach was definitely not one for protecting his players from the added stress of expectation. I wouldn't say we had a bad season by any means, but it was clear that we weren't the only team that had pushed the boat out this season (I remember one team having no less than 5 Americans).

So in the lead up to Christmas I think we were laying in around 4th place, but that obviously wasn't enough for our coach.

So what would be your suggestion if you were coach of a slightly underachieving team who need a morale boost?

Yes that's right, let's introduce fines for missed serves, along with fines for anything else that seems necessary during matches. On top of that, our young Serbian outside hitter had been going through a bad spell, so he was quickly told to pack his bags, and a Canadian was brought in instead. The big mistake I had made was to have a good start to the season, my first few games felt great and it seemed almost everything I touched turned to a point. But of course this is real life and there was always going to come an end to the good run of form, which meant I was quickly dragged into the coaches office for crisis meetings with the board, asking why I wasn't performing as good as the first games. I was completely expecting to leave for the Christmas break and be told not to bother coming back.

But that conversation never materialised, and I was entrusted with the opposite position right through to the end of the season.

So to cut an extremely long email short... The life of a pro volleyball player, from my experience, has endless ups and downs. There will be times when you feel like nothing you can do is good enough, there will be times when you are laying unable to move with a bag of frozen peas strapped to every joint of your body, but a ring of the doorbell after 4 hours sleep makes it very much worthwhile!

The road to the Olympics from Vicky Palmer

I re-signed with the volleyball club I played for last year: ‘Gea Happel Amigos Zoersel’, in Belgium, in the top Division ‘Ere Dames’. It is quite a young team, but keen to improve both individually and as a team. Our coach is focused and has set us goals so we can achieve our targets for the season. 

Most of the players in my team are Flemish, (Dutch speaking inhabitants of Belgium), as our team is based in the northern region of ‘Flanders’. (Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders, in the north, and the French-speaking, southern region, of Wallonia. The Flemish make up the majority of the Belgian population (about 60%).) There are a couple of other nationalities on the team apart from myself - one of the players is Dutch, and the other is Russian, (She is an ex-national team player and used to be the Captain of the Russian team).

My position is Outside Hitter and although I wear the #14 shirt for GB, I wear the #4 shirt for my Belgium team.

This year I am living in a beautiful studio flat on the outskirts of Antwerp and I was given a brand, new, VW Polo - a bit of a bonus to have my own car! I go to the gym most mornings (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday) to do cardio sessions and weights! In the evenings (Monday to Thursday) we do volleyball training. The sessions last mostly 2.5 hrs so they are very tough. I also go swimming to increase my fitness. As I have volleyball coaching qualifications, I also do about 4 hours of coaching every week for my club, with a couple of the Junior teams.

I returned to Belgium mid September for the final two weeks of pre-season training. We have not had the planned start to our playing season as unfortunately we are without our setter - she has an ACL injury - (a torn ‘anterior cruciate ligament’) – she is hoping to return shortly.  We have lost our first few leagues matches, and are currently on a two week break from competition whilst the Women’s Indoor Volleyball World Cup takes place. (The top 3 teams from this competition will qualify for the London 2012 Olympics). We are hoping that this break allows us to re-focus, so we can get back to our winning ways.

I will be in touch again before Christmas – and I hope I will be able to report back some good results! In the meantime, the GB squad continues to look for sponsors to help us in our preparation for 2012 next year. When we get back together in April we will have approx 90 days preparation before the opening game. So we will need to find money, facilities and accommodation for this period - wish us luck!