School Project to mobilise hundreds of youngsters across Ireland

Volleyball Ireland launched their Schools Project, TY Volley Programme* in late September, thus delivering two full days of coach and referee training for youngsters aged between 15 and 16 in Davitt College Mayo and Sutton Park School, Dublin.

As many as 47 students engaged in the first two sessions and Volleyball Ireland are targeting 15 more schools across the school year. The 47 students will now deliver a six-week coaching programme to their younger classes of 13 and 14 years old before finishing with a blitz. Volleyball Ireland estimate outputs of 350-trained TY students and over 900 younger students exposed to specialised training by TY’s.

*Transition Year is a specific year in secondary school dedicated to allowing children to focus on other programmes outside of the normal academic ones

Coaching Teachers

Moreover, Volleyball Ireland has already delivered teacher training in Galway, Ennis and Dublin. The training focused on skill introduction and 4v4 Volleyball – a variety of the game played in both Primary and Secondary schools across Ireland. Teachers received a two-hour workshop plus resources to ensure they are confident in delivering ongoing sessions within their schools. The teachers will now begin their preparations for the Primary School National Championships, which will start in January 2023.

For more advanced teachers, Volleyball Ireland hosted on September 13 an online session and discussion dealing with offense and defence formations as well as blocking systems.

Referee education for students

As part of the CEV School Project, Volleyball Ireland have launched the Schools Referee Course 22-23. This is a full-day theoretical and practical session addressed to the top division schools. Grange Community College was the first school to sign up this year and Volleyball Ireland are targeting to deliver seven programmes to over 150 students this academic year.

Competition and Fun Blitzes

Volleyball Ireland have established secondary school competitions for three age categories**. Registrations opened end of August and closed on September 10 with as many as 461 teams entering! The Round 1 games are now underway, and the Schools Project Senior Finals are due to take place on December 14 in the National Indoor Arena, Dublin.

**Senior (17 and 18 years old) Girls and Boys A, B and C Divisions

U16 (15 and 16 years old) Girls and Boys A, B and C divisions

Junior (13 and 14 years old) Girls and Boys 4v4 plus 6v6 events