Essex Pirates team on the day Top row - Dave Tyler, Tony Wood, Matt Wearmouth Bottom row - Dave Gentry, Pete Guernari + polly, Ken Edwards

Essex Pirates had a successful time at the latest Sitting Volleyball Grand Prix which brings together men and women, able bodied and disabled to play in the country’s premier sitting volleyball event.

Two cars left Chelmsford and Colchester on a cold morning and braved the deteriorating weather on the A14 and M1 to get to Sheffield last Sunday. Arriving four hours later and having to go straight on court one might have expected a disaster but the game against Portsmouth Sharks saw Pirates win easily 25-13. Next up was Surrey, one of the contenders for the overall title, but after a poor start the combined power of Gentry and Wood at the net upset the opponents rhythm to such an extent that Pirates again took the game 25-13. Next up were Thundercats, who also found the Essex team at full power. Guernari and Tyler led the way with accurate and hard serving, Wearmouth was everywhere in defence and the outcome was never in doubt 25-7 and a third win.

Next came a crunch game against Loughborough Lions a tall and talented team who beat Pirates last time out. In the early changes it was all Lions and Pirates were at one stage 13-4 down. But Tyler and Guernari led the fight back and some excellent blocking by Gentry saw Pirates claw their way back point by point. Lions began to wobble and when they missed their first set point the Essex side at last got their noses in front. The game raged back and forth with many of the spectators leaving the other matches to watch. At the end Pirates triumphed 29-27 to remain unbeaten.

Match five saw a below par Wildcats, the Welsh second team, fall to the Pirates 25-10 to set an intriguing match against Battleback – a forces side based on servicemen and women who had suffered injuries in recent wars. These are hard matches as what their players may lack in skill and experience they overcome with effort and endeavour. Until the later stages the match was close but in the end the greater volleyball skills of the Essex side won through 25-17.

The next game was one of the best of the day against London Lynx whose team contains several GB Paralympic squad players but had earlier lost out narrowly to Lions. This was a high quality game where Pirates at last found their match. Led by the tournament’s MVP Jabbar Mustafa, the recovery work of the Lynx team was matched by Pirates but at the net the London team were just too strong. Pirates went down 25-17 for their only defeat of the day.

The last two matches were a little bit of an anticlimax and Essex had to make sure they did not let the intensity and effort drop. Kent Wyverns relied to heavily on Gabor their Hungarian international and clever serving limited his impact as Pirates took the match 25-8. The last game against the previous overall Grand Prix leaders Celtic Dragons could so easily have been the game of the day, but the Welsh team seemed badly out of sorts making far too many unforced errors against a workmanlike Essex side. Another 25-17 to the Pirates.

The overall ranking system is based both on results and the number of disabled players on court. For this outing player availability left Pirates fielding an all able bodied side. Essex Pirates were a little surprised that in the final rankings they ended up 6^th a result which echoed their last tournament when although they only won four of their nine matches, they also fielded Suffolk’s Jessica Smith

Speaking afterwards player coach Ken Edwards said – our results were good and we played some excellent volleyball, our defence in particular was outstanding. The final ranking shows that we need to recruit more physically disabled players especially amputees to our Thursday night training sessions at Anglia University. And come back Jessica we need you! Anyone out there who would like to join will be most welcome. Contact Ken on 01245 474425 ken.edwards@volleyball.co.uk .

After just two weeks of minor training at Chelmsford club sessions, the team's first competitive outing was at the second of the monthly Sitting Volleyball Grand Prix on 24th January 2010 at Kettering.  The team of Tony Woods, Dave Gentry, Gordon Day, Pete Guernari and Ken Edwards all from Essex were bolstered by Phil Smith and his daughter Jessica from Suffolk.  Jessica had trained the previous day with the GB Sitting Volleyball Women and her Mum Kim was also roped in playing for Kent Wyverns.  Due to the points system, although the team won 4 of their 9 matches, they finished 6th of the ten teams with the title going to FDSW Celtic Dragons, a side from Wales. 

To see the team in action take a look at www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnAc0pkkE-E   between 3.00-4.00 minutes.  We are the team in the bright red stripes!

Pirates results were

Won v Portsmouth 25-15
Lost v Surrey  20-25
Won v Tower Hamlets 25-19
Lost v East Midlands Lions 18-25
Lost v Wildcats 22-25
Won v Battleback  25-22
Lost v East London Lynx 22-25
Won v Kent Wyverns  25-11
Lost v Celtic Dragons  21-25

The team are now looking at future Grand Prix
February 21st in Sheffield
March/April (sdate to be decided) in Kettering
and an invitation to the Finals at Crystal Palace on 23/24th April