Volleyball: Cooper receives accolade for 2012 contribution

Great Britain women’s volleyball coach Audrey Cooper has been recognised for her contribution to London 2012.

Whitburn’s Cooper, who was recently appointed first female on the international volleyball federation’s coaching commission, has won an accolade from The Leisure Review, an independent sports magazine.

It reviewed the quality of coaching at London 2012 across all sports and picked out Cooper for special praise.

“The countless hours studying a variety of sports over the Olympic fortnight highlighted one coaching star, volleyball coach Audrey Cooper, the only coach in any of the home nation picks who won a game,” it said.

Cooper guided the GB women, in the competition for the first time, to a historic win over Algeria.

It came in spite of the fact that the funding for the women’s team was axed halfway through their programme and the players had to raise their own funds.

Sports Coach UK, the UK agency for coaching excellence, also picked out Cooper as one of their ten most inspiring coaches of 2012.