The FUTURE of oUVC
In order to secure the future of the club, we are committed to growing in the following three areas within the next five years.
International Success
We aim to attract top talent from around the world by providing top-quality training and opportunities at OUVC. To provide such a uniquely enriching environment, we wish to increase quality and volume of training, improve our equipment, and grow our coaching staff and venues: we hope to recruit new coaches, deepen our relationship with current staff, as well as book court time in locations around Oxford. We will look to improve the range of training offerings, including strength work, cardio sessions, and physiotherapy recovery on top of volleyball-specific trainings, to allow our athletes to perform their best. Another critical aspect of our program’s improvement will come from diverse, challenging, and frequent competitions for our athletes, which we hope to confront with ample funding for registration, travel, and accommodation costs. We are ready to compete at the highest level of collegiate volleyball, but need your support to achieve an ever-rising standard of play.
Improved Accessibility
Volleyball should be enjoyed by all. Having already doubled the size of and the training hours allocated to our developmental third teams in the past two years, we seek to continue to offer more high-quality opportunities for athletes of all backgrounds to play. In addition to sourcing increased training and professional coaching for development teams, we hope to tackle cost accessibility for all athletes. As our club grows, we increasingly rely on athletes’ membership fees to fund our operations: it is essential that we counteract these rising costs and ensure that anyone can enjoy our sport and our community. To that end, we hope first to create a robust need-based financial assistance fund, and, ultimately, to lower membership fees across the board. Relieving the burden of financial stress for our passionate athletes will allow them to train and grow to their greatest potential.
We hope to spread our love of volleyball to an ever-wider audience. The connections forged between current athletes at OUVC animates our love for the club and for the sport – we aim to expand this community and share its joys both by reconnecting with alumni and reaching out to new supporters. To that end, we hope to increase our social media presence and host new, exciting events.
With increased focus on social media, we will devise more frequent, wide-reaching, and creative publicity campaigns for our competitions, player profiles, and social events. This will not only streamline communication and strengthen camaraderie within the club, but also to draw former and non-members into the OUVC community. New events will include drinks hosted in Oxford to connect alumni with current athletes, as well as an alumni Varsity match. We hope to receive the sustainable, long-term support required to build the club for past, current, and future members.
INCREASED OUTREACH
HOW You Can Help
With our ambitious goals to grow the club into a high-achieving, inclusive, and holistic family, we seek gifts of any size to support our mission, and would be extremely grateful for your generosity.
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Equipment
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Two New Nets - £320
Some of our ageing nets are partly held together by tape, and do not meet regulatory standards. As we aim to move to increased training hours, our equipment will see more wear and tear. It is imperative that we maintain fresh, high-quality nets both for practices and competitions.
Two Sets of Antennae - £100
We currently lack a functioning set of antennae, severely hindering our ability to train effectively. A new set of durable antennae would help our athletes practice and achieve even stronger competition results.
Five New Balls - £450
Volleyballs are a main source of recurring expenditure every year, as frequent use leads to damage, poor functioning, and inability to meet competition regulations. As such, we seek to replace several balls every year with fresh ones, to ensure our players get the best equipment to train and win with.
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Training
Additional Courts and Coaching - £8200
Schools like Greyfriars Catholic School offer bookable sports hall in Oxford, which helps us alleviate pressure on already-oversubscribed Iffley Road Sports Centre, whose limited availability already does not meet our club’s training needs. An additional 4 hours of training per week throughout termtime would provide essential court time for our teams, but Greyfriars Catholic School bookings sit at £55 per hour, and coaching fees at around £30 per hour. With your support, we will grow our training schedule and ensure the club’s success.
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Additional Coaching for 3rd Teams - £4300
To render our third teams productive, engaging, and competitive, we require six hours of professional coaching per week during term time, costing around £30 per hour. By providing top-quality coaching for all of our teams, we will create an accessible and inclusive club that grows together.
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Accessibility
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Financial Support - £1000
Our membership fees cost around £250 per year, and for many, this can become a major obstacle to playing the sport that they love. We hope to offer financial aid,
