Find a venue
You’ll need to phone around as not all sports halls will cater for volleyball.
You just need a single volleyball to get started!
Find some players
What’s worked really well for many is social media. If your local area has a Facebook page that’s a good place to start.
You can also try registering on Meetup.com.
Continuing to play over the summer – beach and grass – is a great way to attract new players.
There's a huge demand for clubs that cater for juniors. If you can cater for juniors that's a bonus, but be mindful of child welfare safeguarding issues.
Organise some matches
You can easily have a decent game with as few as 4v4, but eventually you'll want to play against some other teams. Get in touch with any of the other Clubs registered with the HVA and see what you can organise.
See if you can get somebody trained up as referee or at least able to ref to a reasonable level.
When you're ready...
Get in touch with the HVA and let us know you'd like to join us.
What you'll need
(All links are for suggestions only.)
You will need to be affiliated with Volleyball England to play in the HVA for insurance purposes. Cost was approx. £108 for 2023/4 registrations.
You will need a uniquely numbered similarly coloured kit to play in HVA.
A minimum of 5 warm up volleyballs and at least one Mikasa V200W or V300W match volleyball.
You will need to have a match venue that meets certain minimum standards, with a proper posts, net and antennae.
We use proper FIVB scoresheets for HVA matches, so purchase some of those and learn how to use them.
You will need a suitable scoreboard with numbering for match points and set count.
You will need some line up sheets, but you can easily photocopy these.
Read and familiarise yourselves with the HVA rules. These are designed to make our competitions run smoothly and fairly for all involved.
See the rules for the requirements for match officials - first and second referees plus scorers. They will need a whistle, plus red/yellow cards. The HVA will pay for one referee course per club per year so take advantage of that.
A first aid kit is also useful - ice packs for sprained ankles, plasters for bleeding fingers and grazed knees!
Timeline for registering with the HVA
In late August we'll send out the Club and Team Registration forms to any club that has expressed an interest in joining the HVA. You need to complete that and send us proof of your Volleyball England affiliation.
Here's the registration form for the 2023/24 season.
In early September we have a Fixtures Committee meeting, which all clubs need to attend. We'll decide which teams will play in which leagues.
Fixtures are sorted out via an online spreadsheet once the Fixtures Meeting has occurred. Full instructions will accompany that. Any team's league fixtures that are not resolved by the clubs by the end of October, will be resolved by the HVA.
The HVA Treasurer will send out registration invoices to all club treasurers, which need to be paid before your first match. Fees for 2022/3 were £40 per league team and £20 per cup team, but these may increase in 2023/4. There is also a refundable "Goodwill deposit" of £30 to pay.