SWNTP – Out of the shadows…..

With final pre-season preparations completed teams around the country will be looking forward to renewing old rivalries and taking on new ones as the Schelde Sports National League Programme gets underway this weekend.

However, not long after the Cup Finals Weekend signaled the end of the 2010-2011 season the new Scotland Senior Women’s National Team Programme (SWNTP) began to take shape around its 20:21 Vision. The 20:21 Vision has the ambitious performance target  of seeing Scotland Women’s Volleyball compete in the CEV European Championship 2nd Round by 2021. A series of five incremental steps have been identified to take the Programme on this journey, each step a challenge in its own right.

Some may say that the 20:21 Vision is over-ambitious, perhaps even bordering on unrealistic, but it sets down a clear direction for all to see. The 20:21 Vision presents the SWNTP with an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the ‘Better’ and ‘Stronger’ strands of the SVA’s corporate strategy. This can only be for the good of the Women’s game in Scotland!

The CEV Small Countries Division represents the first step in the journey towards 2021. Success in this competition has to be achieved if the other steps are to become a reality. The priority for the SWNTP over the next 10 months is to progress from the CEV Small Countries Division Qualification Tournament in 2012 in order to compete in the 2013 Final.

The most recent excursions onto the Women’s International Volleyball Court have highlighted some clear weaknesses within the Scottish game. The most obvious of these is the ability to sideout first phase, the ability to kill the ball early in transition and the ability to disrupt the opposition passing unit with service. In reality the picture is more complex than this but in broad terms these are the key issues that require to be addressed.

Practice alone will not bring about the necessary change in performance. The environment built around the Programme has to be conducive to creating performance and it has to be as ‘professional’ as it can be. To this end the SWNTP has relocated to The Peak Centre in Stirling through a partnership arrangement with Active Stirling. This modern centre has a real performance focus to it and Active Stirling has been extremely supportive in providing a quality facility at a reasonable cost which also includes access to the swimming pool for recovery sessions at the end of a hard day’s practice.

Another key aspect in creating the right environment is having the right staff in place. The SWNTP is fortunate to have three people involved who between them have considerable experience with previous National Team Programmes. Leigh Watson and Dave McEwan have the responsibility as Assistant Coaches and have already made significant input into work of the Programme. Gail Wilson fulfills the role of Team Manager and carries out a huge amount of work in the background to ensure all the logistics run as smoothly as possible. In addition, the SWNTP has brought in two other members of staff who don’t have a Volleyball background yet who bring a different and valuable dimension to the environment. Susan McCrorie is the Programme Physiotherapist and much of her work has a proactive focus aimed at making the players as robust as possible. Susan is supported in this process by Tom Smale who acts as Strength and Conditioning Coach to the Programme and their combined insight will be key in helping the Coaching Staff achieve its technical objectives.

Then, of course, there are the really key people in all of this…the players! Since the dust from the Cup Finals has settled the players have notched up six practice sessions. But, they haven’t just spent time in the hall. They have been involved in shaping the Programme through a really positive and productive meeting held at the University of Stirling. They understand what it will take to achieve Step 1 of the 20:21 Vision and they know that this will require them to change. Continuing to do what they do is not an option…and this is where the Scottish Volleyball community comes in!

The SWNTP is not some kind of secret society that fleetingly comes into the public domain only to disappear from sight soon after. The SWNTP is a programme that everyone in Scottish Volleyball should know about and be proud to share.

All the SWNTP players spend the majority of their Volleyball time in their Clubs. The rate at which a National Team player will improve is dictated, to a degree, by the frequency at which she practices. If this only happens once a month through SWNTP practice then progress will be slow. If, however, SWNTP practice and Club practice are seen to share the same processes and goals then the rate of progress can be accelerated.

This is the key principle behind Project: Net-Gain.

Project: Net-Gain is an initiative designed to improve the level of performance of the Senior Women’s National Team in preparation for the 2012 CEV Small Countries Division Qualification Tournament and the Final in 2013. The initiative has two distinct strands:

1.    A collaboration between the SWNTP and the Women’s Division 1 Clubs in the Schelde Sports National League
2.    The Net-Gain Series which is a special competition for players of the SWNTP and the Young Senior Women’s Programme.

Over the coming weeks you will be able to learn more about Project: Net-Gain and the Net-Gain Series as the season unfolds. The work of the SWNTP will not be shrouded in secrecy. There will be updates through a regular weekly website article entitled ‘A week in the life of the SWNTP’ which will bring you all the insight into players’ efforts to prepare for the challenge of Step 1 in the 20:21 Vision. The first article will bring you the latest news as the players’ prepare for their first international challenge of the season against Ireland in Dublin from 14-16 October. To whet your appetite you can find details of the 2011-2012 Programme under the National Team menu on the home page of the SVA website. All the information about practice, the Net-Gain Series and the international programme is listed here.

The SWNTP is not an ‘event’. It is part of the day-to-day life of the Scottish Volleyball community. Share the journey with us and support us as we take on each challenging step of the vision!

The SWNTP Players

Craig Faill
Head Coach
Scottish Senior Women’s National Team Programme