By Katie Coyne
Competitive volleyball is a demanding game. Now, imagine trying to compete if you can’t run or jump.
“Sitting volleyball is much harder,” says Paralympic champion Laura Webster, a member of the U.S. National team and the Garden Empire Volleyball Association (GEVA).
The association will demonstrate the sport in Morristown on May 22, 2021. Able-bodied and disabled spectators of all ages and skill levels are invited to participate, at the Masonic Center on Maple Avenue.
“In the sitting game it’s like…your hands are your primary way to move. And because not all athletes have feet to push with, you’ve got to get your hands out from underneath you and up in the air, and it’s just…it’s so fast,” says Webster, 34.
The Long Island resident lost her leg to osteosarcoma as a child, and has a prosthesis that allows her to play traditional volleyball as well. She has competed on the national para-volleyball team for 18 years.
Saturday’s free event, which runs from 4 to 6 pm (outdoors, weather-permitting), is being organized by GEVA’s John Titus, 39, with help from association Program Director Bill Doyle, 72.
Doyle began playing volleyball while serving in the Navy during the Vietnam War. Through connections with USA Volleyball and the U.S. State Department, he has traveled to Canada and Moldova to coach.
Titus, a member of the Morristown Freemasons, has played volleyball all his life. He has coached at Caldwell University and for the last decade has been involved with GEVA.
Established in 1921, GEVA promotes volleyball in the tri-state area, with training, tournaments and events ranging from recreational to Olympic and Paralympic levels.
“We love volleyball. Our mission as volleyballers, as GEVA…is to promote the sport in all its facets. And then on the other side, you know, our Masonic responsibility is to make the world a better place. To be able to do both through volleyball is awesome and a blessing for me,” Titus says.
He says GEVA’s para-volleyball league has gained momentum over the past year.
“This is a great program for autistic kids, for physically handicapped kids, for veterans.”
Para-volleyball rules differ from volleyball in a few ways. Court dimensions are smaller– 10 meters by six meters–and the net height is lower, at 3 1/2 feet. Players must keep a portion of their upper body (defined as the area from the buttocks to the shoulder) in contact with the court when contacting the ball. Players may block or attack a ball served by the opposing team
The Morristown exhibition will be high-performance, and highly instructive, Doyle promises.
“We’ll have very able-bodied athletes playing sitting volleyball. Just so they get used to it, so they see it. So they know that it exists,”
Elliot Blake, 41, manager of the USA para-volleyball team outside of Oklahoma City, and Michelle Goodall, assistant women’s para-volleyball team coach, are helping Titus develop GEVA’s para-volleyball offerings.
Goodall developed a passion for para-volleyball when her 11-year-old nephew lost a leg to cancer, the same way Webster did.
“That was the impetus for me to get more and more involved,” she says.
Goodall is hoping COVID won’t spike her team’s dreams this summer. “Right now we’re training for the Tokyo Paralympics, and have our fingers crossed that the event will go off.”
Blake grew up playing volleyball in southern Florida and coached at various levels before landing with USA Volleyball, where his many duties include helping communities develop para-volleyball programs.
The game is so challenging that even seasoned coaches like these two hesitate to play.
“My athletes beg, they’re like ‘come on sit down with us!’” Goodall says. “I don’t play often.”
Webster, a gold medalist in the Rio De Janeiro Paralympic Games, met her husband through volleyball. When asked if their three children play, she is interrupted.
“I definitely do,” answers her son, flashing a smile as he peeks around a corner on Zoom.
Whether they want to or not, they’ll all play volleyball, their mom predicts.
“It’s a family thing.”
The photo is during an Italian tournament in Rotonda
Note: The link takes you to Cincinnati.
The address is 40 Maple Avenue.