Sean Poole, Acting Head Coach, reports on GB Men’s silver medal-winning performance at last weekend’s European Sitting Volleyball Bronze Nations League. The competition was held in Lyon, France between Great Britain, France, Estonia and the Czech Republic from 7-11 July.
Already missing captain and 1st setter Rob Richardson, the squad was further depleted in the week leading up to the tournament by personnel who had contracted Covid the previous weekend at the Dutch Cup in Assen, Holland. As a result, Head Coach Ian Legrand, Team Manager John Worrall and players Steve Allen and John Munro were unable to travel to Lyon.
A couple of replacement players were drafted in at the last minute (including Jaochim Pierre earning his first GB cap and who was to prove invaluable throughout the tournament) to take the squad size up to 8. New flights were booked for them and Sean Poole was briefed to take on the Head Coach and Team Manager roles and Justin Phillips was nominated captain of the side in Rob’s absence.
The group traveled out to France on 3 separate flights from 2 different airports (and same for the return trip) with 4 players not arriving at the hotel until around 1.30am on the morning of GB’s first match against Czech Republic – hardly the best preparation for a tournament but unavoidable in the circumstances.
Czech Republic were the only team at the tournament that we couldn’t properly scout beforehand as we couldn’t find any video of them from later than 2019. They were our first opponents on the Saturday morning so we were unsure what to expect.
As a result of the last minute personnel changes, Team GB were not able to field their regular starting six and so the first match was always going to be a test of new experimental line-ups. The line-up for this match included new cap Jaochim playing as Libero.
GB took the first set 25-21 and appeared to be settling down well but thanks to some incredible defense (I can’t remember any loose balls falling on the floor on the Czech side of the net), the Czech side proved too strong on the day, taking the next 3 sets 25-23; 25-22 & 25-22.
All in all, considering all of the issues Team GB had overcome in the previous few days, and our new untested line up, not a bad result really, and with set scores so tight, very unlucky not to have taken more from the match.
Team GB players were disappointed at the result of the Czech game, but after a re-group, discussing the positives from the match, they prepared for their second match later on Saturday evening against Estonia.
The team went into the Estonia game a lot more settled. Jaochim was moved from Libero to 4 hitter, his second position of the tournament, and GB dominated the first set 25-16. The second set followed suit but an injury to setter Danny Kitcher at 20-16 up threatened to throw the team off the rails. As Team GB didn’t have any other setters on the bench, 4 hitter Daz Young was called in to cover Danny’s role and setter Kev Tann asked to take on more of the setting responsibilities. By the end of the set Team GB had managed to increase their lead from 4 to 6 points, finally winning 25-19.
In the third set, Jaochim started as a replacement setter for the still injured Danny – his 3rd different position of the tournament (pretty good going for a player earning his first cap!). Estonia dug deep to take the set by the narrowest of margins 23-25 but GB managed to settle down to the new line-up by the end of the set and were determined not to let the game slip from their grasp. They took the final set 25-15 for a thoroughly deserved 3-1 win. Next, bring on the home side France but not before a good night’s sleep!
Sunday morning saw a bit of a lie-in as the GB/France game was scheduled for 11.00hrs. With Czech Republic beating Estonia earlier in the day and having come from 2-0 down to beat France the previous day, the best result that Team GB could now hope for in the tournament was 2nd place – if they could beat the home side.
On the one hand expectations were high after the recent joint training camp with Team France in Vichy, France where Team GB beat France 4-0 in the 4 scrimmage matches they played there but on the other hand players were nervous as GB were missing 2 of their key players from those matches. Could the rearranged line-up replicate the training camp results?
The France match produced the best volleyball of the tournament for Team GB as they achieved the only 3-0 result of the whole tournament. Good steady play throughout the match, sensible shot choices and a real team atmosphere on court all helped to produce the final result – 25-21; 25-17; 25-23. Team GB had finished in second place at the tournament!
The closing ceremony provided further moments of celebration for the Team GB squad as Justin Phillips was awarded “Best Server” of the competition and setter Kev Tann was awarded “Best Setter”.
In summary, considering the circumstances in the week leading up to the tournament, this was a decent result for Team GB. Thanks are in order for all of the players who were a credit to Team GB with their flexibility, competitive drive and high standard of play throughout the tournament. Thanks also to Captain Justin Phillips who led his team by fine example and to the coaching support team members who proved invaluable.
Players:
Justin Phillips (captain);
Charlie Walker (Asst. Coach);
Mark Hemming;
Kev Tann;
Danny Kitcher;
Dan Bing;
Daz Young;
Jaochim Pierre
Staff:
Sean Poole (Head Coach)
Kieran Good (Assistant Coach)
Saffron Betts (Team Therapist)
Mel Young (S&C Coach)
Photo: Nathalie Jamais and ParaVolley Europe