London 2012 Olympics: GB volleyballers defy odds to earn historic win

Few Olympians have got to where they are without sacrifice, but how many of them have built their dreams in the tight, boxed-up accommodation at an inner-city fire station remains to seen.

The answer is probably 12, for that is the size of the Great Britain women’s volleyball squad who in the early hours of yesterday morning defied all expectations to win the host nation’s first-ever indoor match in Games competition.

The reason why Audrey Cooper’s players have been forced to bunk down in two-bed dormitories is simple: money. Entirely self-funded since 2010, living at the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Centre was a cost-effective way of staying together as a group.

It was there that they spoke of their Olympic ambitions, phoned local businesses begging for sponsorship and there that they plotted the downfall of Algeria – their historical maiden Olympics scalp. The fact that it took them five sets to do so was of no surprise. The fact that the winning point came at 12.37am even less so. If anything, it was fitting. They squad have rarely done anything the easy way and adversity is the only way they know.

“There have been so many highs and lows over the last six years of our journey, there have been so many people, family and friends, to back us up when times have been tough. To get a win is fantastic and for everyone,” said captain Lynne Beattie, who took up the game at Mearns Castle High School.

Like Beattie, coach Cooper is also a Scot – and an Olympian herself, having played the beach version of the game when it first made an appearance at the 
Atlanta Games in 1996, partnering England’s Mo Glover.

Although one of the most played sports worldwide, volleyball is still very much a minority game in the home nations, with those charged with running it desperate to attract a new army of supporters. The winning point last night came from a block by Grace Carter, a Nottingham-born 22-year-old who put her sports science degree on the backburner to concentrate on her playing career. Her story is similar to nearly all of their team-mates. Thirty-one-year-old Jen Taylor gave up a teaching job and a home in the midlands to move to Yorkshire. The squad have come close to quitting on several occasions, the nearest being when they were told their UK Sport funding was no more. Beattie persuaded them to continue via a late-night Skype conversation, though.

“I am so proud of these girls,” said British Volleyball’s performance director Kenny Barton. “I was absolutely ecstatic when they got the win. They are such a wonderful bunch of girls who deserve all they get.”

Barton will meet with UK Sport in the aftermath of the Games, hoping to receive news of a return to funding. With an open invitation to join the World Championship from the FIVB on the table, and a 2016 Olympic qualifying campaign on the horizon, it will be needed.

The scenes that greeted the end of last night’s match, though. The players stayed on court perhaps longer than usual, all draped in the Union flag, soaking in every moment. To those watching they had beaten Algeria. But to those on the inside of a camp where every penny counts, they had beaten a side who, when they withdrew from a pre-tournament friendly at the 11th hour, cost them close to £10,000. Such hard-luck stories are commonplace for this squad, but now, with an Olympic win on their resumes, they will hope for happier times ahead.