Sitting Volleyball

Highest governing body	ISMGF (1956-1981) No Organ ISOD (1981-1992) ISOD (1992-1994) Separate WOVD (1994-2014) WPV (2014-Now)
Characteristics
Mixed-sex	No
Type	Indoor
Presence
Paralympic	1976 - 1980

Netherlands versus Japan women's match at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London

Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must sit on the floor to play.

History

Sitting volleyball was invented in the Netherlands by the Dutch Sport Committee in 1956 as a rehabilitation sport for injured soldiers. ^[1][2] In 1958, the first international sitting volleyball contact was held between Germany and Dutch clubteams.^[3]

It was created as a combination of volleyball and sitzball, a German sport with no net and seated players. Sitting volleyball first appeared in the Toronto 1976 Paralympic games as a demonstration sport for athletes with impaired mobility, and both standing and sitting volleyball became officially included as medal sports in the Paralympic games at Arnhem in 1980. Women’s sitting volleyball was added for the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games. ^[4]

After the London 2012 games, VolleySLIDE was founded by Matt Rogers to promote and develop the sport globally. ^[5] Eight men's and eight women's teams competed in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.^[1]

Rules

Men's sitting volleyball match between a combined US Navy-Coast Guard team and the US Army

In sitting volleyball, a 7-metre-long (23 ft), 0.8-metre-wide (2 ft 7 in) net is set at 1.15 metres (3.8 feet) high for men and 1.05 metres (3.4 feet) high for women. The court is 10 by 6 metres (33 by 20 feet) meters with a 2-metre (6.6-foot) attack line. The rules are the same as the original form of volleyball with the exceptions that players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor whenever they make contact with the ball and it is also possible to block the serve.^[6][3]

Athletes with the following disabilities are eligible to compete in sitting volleyball: athletes with amputations, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, brain injuries and stroke. Classifications of these athletes by disability are placed into two categories: MD and D. MD stands for "Minimally Disabled," and D stands for “Disabled.” While Minimally Disabled athletes have lost only a fraction of their muscular strength and flexibility in a joint preventing them from successfully playing standing volleyball, Disabled athletes have lost all of their muscular strength and flexibility in that joint.

Only two MD players are allowed on the roster for the Paralympic Games and only one is allowed on the court at a time; this is to keep the competition fair between rival teams. The rest of the team must be classified as D players.^[3][7] Skills are largely identical to the sport of volleyball and the following game terminology apply:

• Ace - A serve that lands in the opponent's court without being touched.
• Attack - An attempt by a player to win a point by hitting the ball over the net.
• Attack line - In indoor volleyball, a line three metres from the net which marks the limit for where a back-row player may advance to hit a ball from above the net.
• Back-row player - In indoor volleyball, any of three players positioned at the back of the court.
• Block - To block an opposing player from spiking the ball by jumping at the net with arms in the air.
• Boom - In beach volleyball, a spike straight down into the sand (slang).
• Centre line - In indoor volleyball, the imaginary line running directly under the net and dividing the court in half.
• Chuck - To push or throw the ball rather than hit it (slang).
• Court - The playing area.
• Crossing space - The zone above the net and between two antennae through which the ball must pass during a rally.
• Dig - A defensive move in which both arms are placed together in an attempt to bounce a hard-hit ball up into the air.
• End line - A back boundary line of the court.
• Facial - A boom or spike that hits an opponent in the face (slang).
• Fault - A foul or error which results in the loss of the rally.
• Front-row player - In indoor volleyball, any of three players positioned closest to the net.
• Front zone - In indoor volleyball, the area between the net and the attack line.
• Ground - To hit the ball to the ground, preferably on the other team's court.
• Heater - A hard-hit or spiked ball (slang).
• Hit - To touch the ball as an offensive player, one of three "hits" allowed a team in getting the ball back over the net.
• Hold - To let the ball settle into the hands briefly on a shot instead of releasing it immediately.
• Joust - A joust occurs above the net between two or more opposing players that forces the ball to become stationary. Point is replayed.
• Kill - To smash the ball overarm into the opponent's court; also called a "spike".
• Kong - A one-handed block, named after King Kong's style of swatting biplanes in the original King Kong movie (slang).
• Libero - In indoor volleyball, a substitute defensive player especially adept at digging.
• Lip - A good dig (slang).
• Match - A series of sets to determine a winner.
• Mintonette - The original name for volleyball.
• Missile - A spike or serve hit out of bounds (slang).
• Pass - the attempt by a team to properly handle the opponent's serve, or any form of attack.
• Rally - The exchange of plays that decides each point.
• Rotate - In indoor volleyball, to move to the next position on the floor in a clockwise manner.
• Screen - To impede the opponent's view of the ball during the serve.
• Serve - The stroke used to put the ball in play at the start of each rally.
• Set - 1. The part of a match completed when one side has scored enough points to win a single contest. 2. To position the ball so a teammate can attack.
• Setter - A player who excels in setting up teammates to attack.
• Sideline - A side boundary line on a court.
• Spade - An ace (slang).
• Spike - To smash the ball overarm into the opponent's court; also called a "kill".
• Windmill Spike (hand movement during Spike follows motion of windmill).,

Members

World ParaVolley

List also includes former members (national teams that took part in previous major tournaments).

List of sitting volleyball national teams^[8]

Championships

World ParaVolley (formerly WOVD) World Championships

Sitting

Men's Sitting - Past winners

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983	Delden	Netherlands	Germany	Finland
1985	Kristiansand	Iran	Yugoslavia	Netherlands
1986	Pécs	Iran	Hungary	Netherlands
1989	Las Vegas	Netherlands	Hungary	Germany
1990	Assen	Iran	Netherlands	Yugoslavia
1994	Bottrop	Iran	Norway	Netherlands
1998	Tehran	Iran	Finland	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2002	Cairo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	Iran
2006	Roermond	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Iran	Egypt
2010	Edmond	Iran	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Egypt
2014	Elblag	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Brazil	Iran
2018	The Hague	Iran	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Ukraine
2022	Sarajevo	Iran	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Brazil

• Ranking

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Iran	8	1	2	11
2	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	3	1	7
3	Netherlands	2	1	3	6
4	Germany	0	2	1	3
5	Hungary	0	2	0	2
6	Brazil	0	1	1	2
	Finland	0	1	1	2
	Yugoslavia	0	1	1	2
9	Norway	0	1	0	1
10	Egypt	0	0	2	2
11	Ukraine	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		13	13	13	39

Women's Sitting - Past winners

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1994	Bottrop	Netherlands	Latvia	Lithuania
2000	Maastricht	Netherlands	Finland	Slovenia
2002	Kamnik	Netherlands	Slovenia	Finland
2006	Roermond	Netherlands	China	Slovenia
2010	Edmond	China	United States	Ukraine
2014	Elblag	China	United States	Russia
2018	Rotterdam	Russia	United States	China
2022	Sarajevo	Brazil	Canada	United States

• Ranking

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Netherlands	4	0	0	4
2	China	2	1	1	4
3	Russia	1	0	1	2
4	Brazil	1	0	0	1
5	United States	0	3	1	4
6	Slovenia	0	1	2	3
7	Finland	0	1	1	2
8	Canada	0	1	0	1
	Latvia	0	1	0	1
10	Lithuania	0	0	1	1
	Ukraine	0	0	1	1
Totals (11 entries)		8	8	8	24

ParaVolley Europe (formerly ECVD) European Championships

Men's Sitting - Past winners

^[9]

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1981	Bonn	Netherlands	Germany	Sweden
1987	Sarajevo	Netherlands	Yugoslavia
1991	Nottingham	Netherlands
1993	Järvenpää	Norway	Finland
1995	Ljubljana	Hungary
1997	Tallinn	Finland		Bosnia and Herzegovina
1999	Sarajevo	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	Finland
2001	Sárospatak	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany
2003	Lappeenranta	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	Finland
2005	Leverkusen	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	Russia
2007	Nyíregyháza	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Russia	Germany
2009	Elblag	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Russia	Germany
2011	Rotterdam	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Russia	Germany
2013	Elblag	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Russia	Germany
2015	Warendorf	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	Russia
2017	Poreč	Russia	Ukraine	Bosnia and Herzegovina
2019	Budapest	Russia	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany
2021	Antalya	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Russia	Germany
2023	Caorle	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Germany	Ukraine

Women's Sitting - Past winners

Year	Location	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1993	Jarvenpaa	Netherlands	Finland	Estonia
1995	Ljubljana	Netherlands	Latvia	Slovenia
1997	Tallinn	Latvia	Lithuania	Netherlands
1999	Sarajevo	Slovenia	Finland	Netherlands
2001	Sarospatak	Netherlands	Slovenia	Finland
2003	Lappeenranta	Netherlands	Slovenia	Finland
2005	Leverkusen	Netherlands	Lithuania	Slovenia
2007	Nyiregyhaza	Netherlands	Ukraine	Slovenia
2009	Elblag	Netherlands	Ukraine	Slovenia
2011	Rotterdam	Ukraine	Netherlands	Russia
2013	Elblag	Russia	Ukraine	Slovenia
2015	Podcetrtek	Ukraine	Russia	Slovenia
2017	Poreč	Russia	Ukraine	Netherlands
2019	Budapest	Russia	Italy	Ukraine
2021	Antalya	Russia	Italy	Germany
2023	Caorle	Italy	Slovenia	Ukraine

See also

• Pieter Joon - World Organization Volleyball for Disabled (WOVD) founder and former president
• Volleyball variations
• Volleyball at the Summer Paralympics

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sitting volleyball.

• VolleySlide
• Sitting volleyball on International Paralympic Committee website
• Beijing 2008 Paralympic Sitting Volleyball Information with an Australian slant from accessibility.com.au - includes nomination criteria for the 2008 Australian Paralympic Volleyball squad.