USA Volleyball Logo

USA Volleyball

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 1, 2012) – USA Volleyball (USAV) has received a $25,000 grant from the Procter & Gamble (P&G) Youth Sports Fund to assist in the grassroots development of sitting volleyball across the United States.

“We are very appreciative of P&G and its support for the development of sitting volleyball in the U.S.,” U.S. Sitting National Volleyball Team Head Coach Bill Hamiter said. “By creating new opportunities to play sitting volleyball the game will grow in popularity with able bodied and disabled player. As the game grows we will be able to identify new athletes for our national teams and provide them with training opportunities in their home communities.”

USAV plans to use the funds in two parts.

First, USAV will offer 14 sitting volleyball clinics for local communities and USAV regions to host. The clinics will introduce and teach athletes – both physically disabled and able-bodied – how to play the game. The clinics will be led by U.S. Sitting Volleyball athletes or staff members. The clinics will be open to all 40 USAV regions with the requests being filled on a first-come, first-served basis. These clinics will provide an opportunity for regions to partner with new sport organizations and to offer its membership a new method to enjoy volleyball.

Second, USAV will execute a four-night summer camp for disabled youth at the U.S. Sitting National Volleyball Team’s training center at the University of Central Oklahoma. Thirty-two aspiring sitting volleyball athletes ages 12-17 will be able to attend the camp at no cost to them other than transportation to Oklahoma City. The vision for the program is to have these 32 campers identified from grassroots clinics held in the first half of the 2013 calendar year.

“Sitting Volleyball is a fast-paced and enjoyable game that can be played by everybody,” U.S. Sitting Volleyball Coordinator Elliot Blake said. “It is our goal to develop the game across the country and to hold our first national championships at the USAV Open National Championships in May 2013.”