British Women's Volleyball successfully complete cycling odyssey to save their 2012 dream

 

The story so far...
 

A strange quietness fell. After the cheering celebrations and popping of champagne corks as the GB women's volleyball team swept into Earl's Court last Tuesday, the final destination of their epic four-day, 300 mile journey by bicycle from Sheffield to London, there was a distinct pause in the ecstatic proceedings.  The head team coach had just reminded them what it was all about.
 

'Next time you come in these doors, ladies, it will be as competitors in the 2012 Olympic Games,' said Audrey Cooper, to her triumphant if saddle sore team, now divested of their bicycles and indulging in sandwiches. The athletes visibly gasped. It was a glimpse of destiny to come, as long as funding and fitness combine to keep their preparations on track. 
 
The cycle ride was their own idea to raise the extra funds they need to support their ambitions as a squad, but also raise the profile of a sport to which they are extraordinarily dedicated. Every woman, all 18, on the squad has surrendered financial, geographical and occupational normality to relocate to their training base in Sheffield and train often six hours a day. 
 
Three weeks ago Jenn Taylor was a 29-year-old teacher at a large school in Derby with a pride-and-joy house in the village of Shepshed, near Loughborough. She had given up volleyball, with all its financial uncertainty and a 127-mile round trip every day to Sheffield for training. 'I made the decision to pack it in. But it never sat right with me. I couldn't do it. I said to myself:' This is your one and only opportunity to compete at an Olympic Games in your home country. This team has worked so incredibly hard. You can't walk away now.' So I came back. There isn't enough money to support us at the training base in Sheffield this winter so I've got a contract abroad in Germany. I'll be on my own, and I'm scared to death to be honest. But it's what you have to do. Like 300 miles on a bike.'
 

It seemed a fine idea at the time: the fund-raising cycle ride. A combination of bravado, athleticism and consciousness-raising to combat the serious financial worries of a sport on a limited budget. Bikes, clothing, accommodation, sunglasses, were all donated to the cause. 
 
The original plan had been that Cooper would keep her team together and foster fitness and competitive edge by playing as a 'club' in one of the stronger European Leagues. The politics had been sorted, but the £250,000 cost was the hitch. British Volleyball is due to receive a total of £4.3 million from UK Sport over four years 2009-2013, a quarter of the figure originally suggested as its 'optimal' funding. The squad now has to disband this winter, with individual team members looking for contracts abroad instead of staying together and there is doubt about the strength of the competitive schedule next summer. As one of the sports not expected to achieve a medal at the London Olympics, there is even a suggestion that the budget for the sport may be cut back even further.
 

Instead of bemoaning their fate, the women decided to do something positive to help along the dream they have been nurturing since their formation in 2007. The route took them to the 2012 Olympic venue at Earls Court via Nottingham, Loughborough, Leicester, Stratford, Oxford, Reading, Richmond, Westminster and Trafalgar Square where they were introduced to a cheering crowd, saw themselves on the Big Screen being interviewed and took photos of each other standing on the rim of the famous fountains. 
 

Along the way, they had faced 'humungous' hills that felt like a Tour de France Alp, battled through rain, slept one night in army barracks, suffered punctures, achilles pulls, hunger, exhaustion and Londoner Lizzie Reid performed the most spectacular fall of the four-day epic, a crash in which her back wheel went one way and she went the other, colliding with the kerb in mid-parabola. 'I was in shock. I think I even blacked out for a minute,' she said, smiling. Undaunted, she climbed back on her bike and blithely continued. These things happened. Matt, the volunteer statistician, had merely looked behind him once and trundled straight into a ditch. 

 

 

But there were other moments which inspired them, large and small. Reaching the top of the hill climbs was a common favourite experience, but so was being donated an enormously large pasta supper in Reading and receiving a bottle of champagne from an off licence in Virginia Water as they cycled past.

 

They met ex-Chelsea and Leicester footballer, Alan Birchenall, in the Town Hall Square in Leicester who confided that he used to organise volleyball matches as training sessions when playing for his clubs in the 70's. 'We cheated a lot and it was a bit competitive. But I loved it. Great sport.' he said.
 
They played beach volleyball on sand in Nottingham's Market Square, cycled round the iconic track where Sir Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile in Oxford and appeared on national television news as they pedalled towards Westminster on the last leg of their journey. 
 
'The worst bit for me was arriving in Stratford on the second night, knowing we still had two days to go,' admitted squad member, Jo Healy. 'I was physically shaking I was so tired. I had tears in my eyes. I was struggling to stand up. But what made it all worthwhile was the team spirit and togetherness. This team is amazing, so strong, so together. Whatever happens to us now, I don't doubt we've proved we're tough enough to compete, and compete well, at the London Olympics. All we need now is a sponsor to help us make it happen.'
 
Yorkshirewoman, Rachel Laybourne, from Dronfield, Sheffield, differed when it came to the most horrendous aspect of the odyssey. 'It was the state of British roads. Everytime we hit a bump or a pothole, I thought I'd dislodged a disc or lost a tooth. But nothing detracts from the achievement. We wanted to do something to help ourselves and to inspire the thought that volleyball may be a smaller sport in this country but we have great aspirations. We don't want to be also-rans at our home Olympics. We want to be as good as we can be.'
 
For Audrey Cooper, who competed for Britain in Atlanta 1996 in the beach volleyball team, the completion of the cycle journey represented one of her proudest moments in the sport. 'The way the girls pushed, helped and looked after one another all the way - because, believe me, we all had our moments of fatigue - was fantastic. On some of the hills, you'd be pedaling fiercely but actually standing still, but there was always someone alongside saying:' Come on, you can do it. Keep going'.
 
'That's how we feel about the Olympic now. If we can raise enough money to keep playing meaningful, competitive matches, then we might really achieve something special at the Olympics in two years' time.'
 
For more information on the journey, donations and British Volleyball: www.gbwomenvolleyball.co.uk
Witness the journey BBC video online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/volleyball/8852694.stm
 
 

 Seb Coe

The squad  received support from Seb Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee (LOCOG), who said:  "Every athlete trains to be at their peak at the greatest competitive event of their lives so good luck to the team in their efforts. They have come so far already in such a short time. I hope that the team's dedication is repaid with a fantastic performance at Earls Court in 2012.

 

 Sir Steve Redgrave

Five times Olympic gold medalist, Sir Steve Redgrave, said: "As someone who competed at five Olympics, and almost all of them with an overdraft, I understand what it's like to strive for a goal on very little money.  My ambition was to win an Olympic gold medal and I was stubborn enough to keep going. The GB women's volleyball team have a similar ambition - to compete in London 2012 as the very best athletes they can be. That is all you can ask of yourself. I applaud their dedication and taking responsibility for themselves in these difficult financial times. I wish them well and hope they do our country proud in London.'
 

Dame Kelly Holmes

Dame Kelly Holmes has also sent a message of support. 'I know only too well how difficult it can be to ensure that everything is right for you to produce that perfect performance on the biggest stage of all, the Olympic Games.  Elite sports men and women face many challenges on their way to the top, and unfortunately in these current times, funding and financial backing is an increasingly common issue.  I wish the GB Women's Volleyball every success with their efforts, and sincerely hope that the Cycle 250 brings the rewards it deserves.  Your team spirit is there for all to see and I look forward to seeing you on the Olympic stage in 2012.'
 

 Individual Stories include:

Lynne Beattie, 24, fully trained pharmacist, team captain from Scotland, who was the lone Briton in a village team in Slovenia last season where they, with her inspiration, went on to win the Championship for the first time in their history and the village celebrated for four straight days. She would like to translate that feeling to the GB Olympic squad. 'We've come from nothing in the last five years. A women's volleyball team from this country has never featured in any Olympics in history. We're ground-breaking. We obviously want to be the best we can be. That is our goal. Our ultimate ambition is not to merely compete in the Olympics in London, but to make the country proud. We're underdogs, we know that. But that doesn't stop our aspirations to be one of the success stories of 2012.'

 

 Nick Clegg

Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister and MP for Sheffield Hallam, said: 
 
'It gives me great pride as a local MP to see that the women's GB Volleyball Team are prepared to cycle to London to raise as much money as possible so that they can fund their training. This really is an inspirational act and I am sure that the public will be backing the team and offering their encouragement to them on their journey.'
 
 

 Hugh Robertson, Sports Minister, said 

Good luck on your sponsored cycle ride to London. The government has invested £4.3m in your sport to help you compete in London 2012 but it is fantastic to see you getting out to raise further funds in sponsorship and from the general public. I wish you every success.'

       

 John Steele, CEO of UK Sport

Good luck to the team on your cycle ride to London. Alongside the substantial money we have already invested in Volleyball, it is great to see such commitment, which is symptomatic of the passion, spirit and dedication we're seeing from athletes across all sports in the run-up to London 2012.'
 

 Donated Goods and Services

Among those donating goods and services to the GB women's cause are: De Vere Wokefield ParkHotel, Wiggle for cycle clothing, Get Cycling for the bicycles, Sheffield City Council, Mellors Group for the beach volleyball court, Nottingham City Council, Leicester City Council, Village Hotel, Coventry, Bloc sunglasses, Sports Department at Oxford University, Reading Borough Council, Panasonic for video camera, City of Westminster Council and Vertex. 
 

 
 Back to News Article