To the Essex Sports Arena! …on Saturday afternoon.
It was a slightly odd sporting geographical crossover. With a couple of hours to kill up on campus, I found myself heading to the Arena for a spot of volleyball.
Yep, I’m a Sports Billy. I’ll watch pretty much anything if it’s live.
The Essex Rebels women had a home fixture against Nottingham. And here’s where things got a little confusing.
The Rebels women’s basketball team were also playing Nottingham. Only this time they were away, with a trip up to the Fair City looming later in the afternoon. As I rocked up on campus shortly before 2pm, the basketball team were still waiting for their coach. Tip off was scheduled for 7pm.
I’ve made that journey often enough to know that, allowing for at least an hour to warm up, it’s going to be a little tight, ladies.
For me, the volleyball was a convenient way of killing a couple of hours before the main event: Forest against Man City back at the World Famous City Ground.
Essex, Nottingham, Arthur, Martha etc.
There was, however, a slight change of plan. An open day was taking place on campus, and the Arena had been commandeered as a glorified freebie distribution centre for prospective students in search of a tote bag stuffed with goodies.
No bribes here. Nope.
No worries. The volleyball had been moved into the sports centre next door. The Arena can be a fairly soulless place when it’s half empty. The sports centre was absolutely rammed. Every seat was taken with standing room only.
Volleyball is seriously competitive at this level. Both the Rebels men’s and women’s teams play in the top divisions, and there was certainly no shortage of intensity.
The first set was a tight affair, with a little Premier League style dissent directed towards the referees along the way. The Rebs narrowly lost it 23-25.
I’m slowly, slowly getting to grips with the fundamentals of volleyball. Essentially, it’s about TWATTING a ball over a net in such a way that your opponents can’t return it. Simple enough. Except, of course, there’s a whole lot more going on.
I particularly enjoy the secret hand signals. You have players facing the net, waiting for their teammate behind them to serve, flashing one, two or even three fingers to communicate the intended serve and tactics. All very cloak and dagger. MI5 with knee pads.
It’s also great to see the team spirit. Both the Rebels and Nottingham were clearly enjoying themselves, despite the competitive edge. That’s one of the things I love about watching university sport. You get to see young sporting talent developing, learning and improving, while having a bloody good time along the way.
The Rebs bounced back in the second set, taking it 25-16. There was a little confusion involving the referees and some new rule changes, which didn’t exactly go the Rebels' way.
The third set was more comfortable, the Rebs winning 25-17. The fourth was much tighter, with Nottingham fighting to stay in the match and the Rebels looking to finish the job.
I didn’t quite keep a note of the final scores, but the Rebs got over the line. A home victory, plenty of smiles and another afternoon of sporting entertainment.
The men were up next, but sadly we couldn’t hang around. We’d booked a table tennis court in the squash court next door. Because apparently watching one sport wasn’t quite enough.
It does get a little confusing, this business of hopping between teams and sporting allegiances. There had even been some fighting talk earlier in the day about taking out a niche telly subscription to watch ice hockey and follow the Panthers again.
Like I need another sporting team to follow.
