University Advancement

Public Relations and Strategic Communications

NEWS RELEASE

USA National Women’s Sitting Volleyball Team to Train at CSUN

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Feb. 9, 2006) — Typically known for its high jumps and blocks at the net, there is another form of volleyball ruling the court lately. One key difference in this game, however, is that all of the same serves, sets and spikes must be made while keeping one extension of the torso in contact with the floor at all times.

Members of the USA Women’s National Sitting Volleyball Team invite the public to observe this dynamic sport as they train at Cal State Northridge from Feb.19-23.

The team will be in intense training from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. all week in Northridge’s small gym, Redwood 180, located on the northeast side of campus off Zelzah Avenue. A special "Demonstration Night" staged with local high school, junior high school and club volleyball players will be held Thur., Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the Activity Center in Redwood Hall.

"What I celebrate about the Women’s National Sitting Volleyball Team coming to Northridge, in partnership with the athletic department, is that we’re able to present to the disablity community on campus an inside look at high performance paralympic athletes who model the potential benefit of activity in the life of every person with disability," said Carole Oglesby, chair of Northridge’s Kinesiology Department.

"What we’re trying to portray is the idea that, from the cradle to the grave, opportunities available to mainstream people should also be available to those with disabilities," said Oglesby.

Sitting volleyball, along with wheelchair basketball, has become one of the most widely played and most watched sports in the disabled community. Along with an extension of the player’s torso remaining in contact with the floor, the court size and height of the net are modified for sitting volleyball.

Players have varying classifications of disabilities, ranging from orthopedic problems to amputations. All, however, share the same passion to compete.

"Competing with the team last June in the National Championships in the Netherlands was one of the best experiences of my life," said Katie Holloway, a member of the USA Women’s National Sitting Volleyball Team as well as a player for Northridge’s women’s basketball team. "I got the chance to go to Europe and compete with 28 different teams who had all kinds of people with different disabilities.

"When you have a disability, you feel so stigmatized in your own world you don’t think about people in other countries with disabilities," continued Holloway. "Playing with this team has really opened my eyes that other people share the same situation as I do."

Holloway joined the team last year and helped lead the team to a fifth place finish at the sitting volleyball world championships in Roermond, Netherlands.

"People may look at sitting volleyball as easier than standing volleyball," said Holloway. "But when you get out there and play, it’s so much harder than you think. You use so many muscles you don’t even realize you have."

This will be the third time in two years the team has trained at Northridge, a collaborative effort made possible through the relationship between the team and CSUN’s athletic and kinesiology departments as well as the university’s Center on Disabilities.

For more information, contact Oglesby at (818) 677-3205.