NI Volleyball aiming high to spread the love for the game among school pupils
News
When it comes to activities run in conjunction with the CEV School Project ‘Play Volleyball – Grow with it’, December was a month of intense preparation for the busy second semester of the school year 2022/2023 in Northern Ireland. There are a number of coaching sessions for teachers planned in five locations across the province within the next 2-5 weeks: Ballymoney, Lisburn, Newry, Kilkeel, and Downpatrick.
Several NI Volleyball Coaches who participated in CEV Coaches Conventions in Kranjska
Gora (Slovenia) and Skopje (North Macedonia) will share their knowledge and experience
with teachers from newly recruited schools.
Each session will include a presentation on theory, giving teachers the opportunity to learn and discuss how they can structure their classes, followed by practical drills using equipment provided by CEV. At each session, teachers will receive feedback which allows them to reflect on their own practice and develop new skills.
The sessions are also designed to help teachers to prepare their pupils for Mini-Volleyball Festivals due to take place at the end of the school year. Teachers will be supported by NI Volleyball Coaches if they come across any challenges or have any questions along the way.
The first theoretical and practical session will commence on January 10, 2023, at the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre, Ballymoney. This will be followed by a session in Lisburn and by workshops in Newry, Mourne, and Down District Council.
Two coaches from Fireblades Volleyball Club, Sylwia Kowalczyk and Joanna McCrory, have run a series of trainings with their Junior Team inspired by the CEV Coaches Convention, as well as an internal Club Coaches Clinic with guest coaches, Kristof De Loose from Belgium - and Stephen McKeown from Northern Ireland.
Sylwia Kowalczyk“I have been greatly inspired by all of the coaches at the CEV Convention. Especially Kristof, who has also visited Northern Ireland twice and delivered a number of sessions to our coaches and players. He has displayed a lot of easy-to-grasp ideas on how to adjust training practice, maintaining young players focus and making Volleyball interesting and fun.”
2023 looks to be a very exciting and promising year in terms of growing the CEV School Project in Northern Ireland and spreading the love for the sport amongst primary school pupils from across the country.