Playing in the Surrey League

For those of you who are looking for a little more information about playing in the Surrey Volleyball League we've put togethor a little FAQ.

Q. How much does playing in the Surrey Volleyball League cost ?

A. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that playing volleyball in the UK is something that you must pay for. The high cost of sports halls etc. mean that this is not cheap. However, due to our selection of venues and discounts negotiated etc. we think we offer a good deal for both our SVL and NVL players.

For our SVL players we have monthly subscription of £40 for adults and £25 for students/unwaged. This subscription is paid between October and April. This must be paid monthly by bank transfer to the Club account. Not only does this cut down on administration but it also reinforces your commitment to the team and club. If we are playing SVL then the expectation is that we should be committing to training regularly as well.

Just one point around the cost – If you were turning up to each weekly training session in the month regardless then playing SVL only costs you either an extra £8 or £5 a month.

 

Q. When are the matches played?

A. Apart from two teams who play their home matches on Friday evenings all other teams play their home fixtures on Sundays. We also play all our home fixtures on Sundays. Therefore, all matches except two will be played on Sundays.

 

Q. Where are the matches played?

A. All matches are played within the county of Surrey. Given that two other teams share the same venue that we use for home matches the majority of all our matches will be played at the Ashcombe Volleyball Centre. The other venues which will be used are Reigate College (x1), Kings SC East Grinstead (x1), Chessington College (x1) and the Orbit LC in Egham (x 2).

 

Q. Why do we play at the Ashcombe Volleyball Centre?

A. It’s a dedicated Volleyball Centre and therefore has all the equipment we need. We also want to support Volleyball Nationally, and the continued usage of this facility allows Volleyball in the UK and the South-East to have a dedicated facility to promote Youth and Junior Volleyball. As a venue it is also extremely cost-effective (less than half the cost of commercial venues such as the Guildford Spectrum and Surrey Sports Park) which helps us keep costs down and has better availability than other local venues who tend to favour events such as Wedding Fairs, Peter Andre concerts, Dog Shows and Children’s Birthday parties over our requests for bookings

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Q. How long is a match?

A. A match will take between 2 – 2.5 hours to complete. There is a 30min structured warm-up which is followed prior to the match. The match format in the SVL is best of 5 sets with the team winning three sets running out match winners.

 

Q. How do we organise a match?

A. Teams need to be self-sufficient in organising themselves. The club will handle hall bookings centrally but each team needs to be in a position where it can sort out both travel and attendance at away matches and ensure it has everything is in place to be able to run a home match. Teams tend to communicate internally by using a dedicated WhatsApp group or something similar and use the Facebook page to communicate outwards to the rest of the club. For home matches the team needs to ensure that the Club Match bag (which includes match balls and scoresheets and scoreboard) are taken from the Guildford Spectrum and are present at the match. After the match this needs to be returned to the Guildford Spectrum. We have a dedicated store cupboard on the balcony overlooking the main sports arenas where the match bag, balls and other equipment in stored. The home team also have to ensure that there will be the following officials at the match : 1st Referee, 2nd Referee , Scorer, Lines judge (x2)

 

Q. Who does the reffing, scoring and lines judging at matches?

A. The Club runs three competitive teams. Each one of the those teams has at least 8 home matches in the season that will need to have volunteers help out. Ideally, each player in each of those teams needs to at least once or twice a season help out at the home match of one of those other teams. In terms of the Surrey League although it is preferable that 1st Officials are qualified it’s not going to be the case that we will be able to ensure that all officials at our matches are qualified. It will be acceptable for experienced players to officiate at matches.

 

Q. I don’t know how to Score or Lines judge?

A. Says absolutely everyone every time they are first asked to help out! Don’t worry! You will be briefed, guided and taught prior to your first time scoring or lines judging. They are really simple tasks and after the first time you do it you will be wondering what all the fuss what about!

 

Q. If I wanted to become a qualified referee would the club pay for me to do so?

A. Absolutely. If anyone is interested in becoming a qualified referee, then the club will reimburse expenses incurred whilst becoming qualified. The only caveat to this would be that you would need to officiate at an agreed number of club fixtures to receive this reimbursement.

 

Q. What about if I wanted to become a qualified Coach?

A. Same call. If you are interested in becoming a qualified Coach, then the club will support you financially and look forward to supporting you in your coaching career.

 

Q. Back to the Surrey league - What do we do about kit?

We will have to purchase it. We use local suppliers and tend to go for plain polo’s or tees with Club logo and numbers printed. Cost is circa £15 per player. We will probably have to cobble some kit together for the first couple of matches.

 

Q. What happens if I can’t make some matches?

A. Dont worry! Not everyone can make every single match – that’s a given! Hopefully, with the fixtures being pre-determined and arranged already it will give players a chance to plan to allow them to attend matches. However, the size of the squad will allow us to ride the peaks and troughs of attendance and even if numbers are very short for a match we will be able to bring in players from both our other teams (Women’s SVL and Men’s NVL) to make up numbers in an emergency.

 

Q. How do I get more involved in organising and running the club?

A. The club is always looking for people to help out and volunteer. It’s a club run for it’s membership by it’s membership. All the Coaches you see at our training sessions are volunteers. If you are interested in getting involved and helping out there is always room and opportunity for you to do so. Please speak to either Mike Richardson, John Biddiscombe, Robin Kamiya or Wendy Bacon.

 

Q. Where is the Ashcombe Volleyball Centre?

A. Dorking. Ashcombe Volleyball Centre, Ashcombe Road, Dorking, RH4 1LY