'Rewarding' experience for outgoing Director Reeve

It has been a rewarding two-and-a-half years on the Volleyball England Board for Dave Reeve during which he says he has “learned a lot.”

The Elected Director is stepping down due to commitments outside the role, but feels his time in the role has been rewarding – and hopes he has made a worthwhile contribution to the organisation too. 

 
“The people on the Board and very knowledgeable, passionate and have a wide range of experiences, so it’s been an enjoyable time, which has helped my development as a person, but also I hope I have added value at the same time,” said Dave. 
 
“Life has got really busy for me of late both in my home life and at work for the Football Association, so I made the decision it was best for everyone that I stepped down. It is purely due to my own personal circumstances rather than anything else. 
 
“I have found those on the Board to be high quality individuals and I’m sure that will continue to be the case in the future with the new appointments. 
 
“They all have the sport’s interests at heart and come from a range of different backgrounds, the make-up is quite broad, which can only be a good thing.
 
“From my perspective Charlei (Ford, CEO) has come in and done a really good job and has helped to bring some consistency to the Hub staff.” 
 
Dave feels the digital transformation project – which has seen the migration of the membership, competition management, officials’ deployment and club management systems into one integrated VolleyZone platform – has been the most significant piece of work undertaken during his tenure. 
 
Although not directly involved in its delivery, he is pleased to have played a part in ensuring there was no divergence away from what was always going to be a difficult task. 
 
Dave said: “From a Board point of view, the conversation was around the challenge of digitally transforming the previous systems and how best to go about it because it is a challenge that most organisations have faced. 
 
“I think the board deserves credit as a collective for listening to the membership when they were saying that the old system was not working for them and then putting plans in place to do something about it.  
 
“I know from my own personal experience that people expect that technology will work perfectly straight away, but it is not as simple as that. It takes hard work and time to get things right, but we are now seeing the positive results are that with the promise of more to come as VolleyZone is continually developed.” 
 
Dave believes that Volleyball England can continue to take strides forwards over the coming years. 
 
As time goes on, he hopes to see greater integration of those tasked with running the sport at all levels. 
 
“I do think there is a bright future ahead and the exciting news about the new indoor beach court facility in Birmingham last week is an example of the way things are moving forward,” said Dave. 
 
“I would like to think that the sport can become closer and unite more, with the Hub team, the clubs, the regions and counties and everyone else who is involved in running the sport coming together for the greater good. 
 
“What really helps is that there is a lot of passion for the sport. Governance obviously continues to be very important, but it’s also key that everyone unites behind the plans to develop the sport over the next few years. 
 
“The quality of players is high at the top end of the sport, as we have seen with the Bello brothers, and the facility and infrastructure are also starting to come together, so there is no reason why a bright future is not in prospect.”