OUR MISSION STATEMENT

" To enable all Members of Brentwood Volleyball Club, regardless of age and ability, to enjoy an encouraging environment in which they are provided with a positive volleyball experience. This will be in all forms of the game including Standing, Sitting, Indoor, Outdoor and Beach Volleyball. The Club in all its activities will strive to be fun, equitable, competitive, and safe and child friendly. The Club will also develop players who are technically sound, and to be able to play against the best competition both locally, regionally and nationally."

We are proud to let you know that the club in addition to its many "on court" successes this year have achieved a number of other "off court" successes most recently- Academy Club Status from Brentwood Borough Council, and Volley 1 Accreditation from Volleyball England, Club of the Week from the Gazette and Club of the Year Finalists from Volleyball England.

About us

Brentwood Volleyball Club started life as an Adult Education Class in January 1984. Essex Estonians members Chris Welham and Alan Sambridge had recognized the need for a place to introduce new players to the game and the sessions were at Hedley Walter School on Saturday afternoons. Several of our current members were part of this group (Shaky – Steve Rosser, Brendan Osborne, Sara Heaton) and the club still uses the same venue (now called Sawyers College) on Saturday afternoons for the 24th consecutive year.

 

In the summer of that year the group represented Brentwood in the Essex Games and it was decided to enter the Essex Volleyball League in the 1984/85 season as Hedley Volleyball Club with a team in Open Division 3.

For the next few years the club continued to grow and improve and by 1990 had two teams in the Essex Open Divisions and a team in the Ladies Division. It was at this point the club gained entry to Men’s National League Division 4.

 

During the 1990s the Men’s team remained in National League Division 4 finally winning promotion to Division 3 in 1998. At that point Divisions 3 and 4 merged so we were still in the bottom division! Meanwhile the Ladies Team had entered the National League in Division 3 and started an unbroken run of winning the Essex Ladies League and has currently been Champions for the past twelve seasons. The Men’s team has won Essex Open Division 1 for the past 8 years.

 

In 1996 a player from Estonians Ladies, Janet Bedford, was tragically killed in a car crash. The Essex Ladies knockout trophy was renamed after her and has regularly been won by Brentwood since – Brentwood are proud to currently have Helen, Janet’s daughter, as one of the ladies National League team players.

In 2000 the Club changed its name to Brentwood Volleyball Club. In 2001 there were talks with Essex Estonians Volleyball with a view to merging but these were scrapped mainly due to timescales. In 2004 these talks were reopened and the Clubs formally merged in the summer of that year under the name of Brentwood Volleyball Club. That year the other Essex National League Club, Chelmsford Partners disbanded and some of their players came over to Brentwood. It was decided to keep the names Estonians and Partners alive by calling one Men’s team Brentwood Estonians and the other one Brentwood Partners.

2003 was a very sad year for the club as the tournament Brentwood had so often attended in Poole, and had great times and successes at, saw the tragic death of two of it’s players in a car crash – James Phillips and Suzie Manning. As a tribute Essex VA renamed its Handicap Cup the Phillips Manning Cup which Brentwood are proud to have won since.

Currently the Club runs two Men’s National League teams (Divs 2&3), and two Ladies National League teams (Divs 2&3). In the 2007/8 season the Ladies achieved promotion to Div 2 after a 20 game undefeated in the league run, the Partners Team also achieved promotion.
The club also currently has four Essex Open Division Teams and two Essex Ladies Division teams. Brentwood VC also enters teams in the Eastern Region League, which it has won several times in the past 5 years.
Brentwood VC also enters various weekend tournaments in the summer and has had many successes and in particular has always had a good time on and off court at these tournaments.
Brentwood has always assisted and participated in JUVO, which is the biggest junior volleyball tournament in the country. With approximately 130 members we believe we are one the biggest volleyball clubs in England and enjoy within the membership over 20 different nationalities.

In 2007 Brentwood started a sitting volleyball section which is development stage and despite having juniors in the club for many years Brentwood officially started its Junior section in 2007 and now has dedicated sessions and links with schools including Boswells who have won the Schools Nationals at u15, u16 and u18 several times over the past 5 years. Many of the Boswells students attend and play for the club at local and National League.

 
In 2007/8 Brentwood embarked on a coaching programme of junior schools in Brentwood and hope this too will lead to a thriving under 11’s junior section.
2009 will see the club celebrate its 25th Anniversary
– the club committee will plan a range of suitable celebrations both on and off the court to mark this milestone.
 

Quotes in support of the Club of the Year Awards and for the Volleyball England web site.

Steve "Shaky" Rosser (original member)
"The Club celebrates it’s 25th Anniversary in January and it’s a mark of what a friendly club it is that there are so many of the original players still about and like me still playing."
 
Brendan Osborne (Chairman)
"I’m so proud to be associated with Brentwood Volleyball Club. We have had many successes at Local, Regional and National League levels, and have provided players to England Juniors/Cadets and GB level, but I feel our greatest success is the real family and fun side to our club. We have a great social calendar and more than a few life long romances have started with our overriding love for Volleyball"
 
Rob "Robweiller" Reynolds (Long standing BVC member and Coach of Southend VC)
"Brentwood Volleyball Club has a history of working and supporting other clubs it incorporated the even longer standing club Estonians when it could have disappeared into history. Even though I am coach of Southend VC I still enjoy being a member of Brentwood VC."
 
Rob "Rhino" Ellis (Local Player)
"Its not being over dramatic to say that Brentwood Volleyball Club has made a significant impact on my life I have found life long friends and the training sessions and post training fun is the high light of the week."
 
Andy Sayward, Tim Reynolds & Jack Watson (England Juniors, Brentwood NL Players)
"Brentwood along with Boswells School have provided us, and so many others with the opportunities to play at so many levels - our mate Nathan French went onto play for Docklands and was Volleyball England’s Nominee for the BBCs Young Personality of the Year. Yeah and who would have thought that a club no where near a beach could produce the current under 17 Regional beach champs - Us!"
 
Tony Clark (Dave’s son and Head Coach of BVC’s two Men’s National League teams)
"My dad first brought me to this club when I was a sports mad teenager, Cricket, Football etc, but I really got into Volleyball big time because of the fun and competitive set up at Brentwood VC – I now enjoy playing and coaching on average 4 or 5 times a week."
 
Dave Clark (60+ Tony’s dad and still playing)
"I recently was able through Brentwood VC to successfully complete my Coaching qualification and although I now live on the IOW I go along to Brentwood any time I can – I just love to beat those young whippersnappers!"
 
Oliver Morgan (11 years old & junior member)
"My Dad has been bringing me over from Kent to Brentwood (Essex) to play for a few years, he’s been playing for Brentwood forever. My favourite is playing outdoors on the common in the summer – Dad always takes me for a coke and crisps afterwards – he drinks beer."
 
Lorraine Bartlett & Wendy Taylor (members of this years undefeated women’s National League Div 3 South team)
"We started at the club when we were 14 and here we are 20 + (ahem) years on undefeated champs of Div 3 National league. (Wendy) I now live in Sevenoaks (Kent) and travel 54 miles to train and play for Brentwood VC as they are such a friendly club. (Lorraine) I’m so proud that both my son and daughter now play National League for the club I started at and still play National League for."
 
Pav (Czech Republic), Veronique (Belgian), Iza (Polish), Som (Iranian)
"Brentwood VC is such a fun club and gives us the competition that we want – there are 20+ different Nationalities in the club approximately 20% of the club membership who are so welcoming to new members and are really encouraging of the overseas players"
 
Tony Woods (Sitting VB Lead)
"Sitting Volleyball is growing in our club which is not surprising because Brentwood VC prides itself on its diversity and integration and of course it’s fun. So watch this space!"
 
Rees Warren (Brentwood National League Player)
"I started at Brentwood VC when I was 12 - I was cycling across the Common and stopped to watch – they invited me to play and now I play National League, am a qualified NVL Ref and Level 2 Coach and so many of the members of the club are my friends."
 
Sue Douglas (National League Player well known by many teams as Super Sue)
"I can’t believe I have made it to play National League, but more than anything I absolutely love the Summer Tournament Season, Brentwood always go mob handed, do well, and have such a great time – I love it, bring it on!"