Here, in the county, Jacbo Lloyd-Williams and Mickey Hawney play for Invicta Volleyball, a national league club in the third tier which is eager to make its next step.
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00:00 [Music]
00:09 Training behind me now is a development group full of young volleyball players,
00:13 all of whom hope to go professional one day.
00:16 But some of them have already played for their country.
00:19 I visited the talented National League team in Victor Volleyball in Maidstone,
00:23 who boast an impressive roster of young setters, middles, liberos and hitters.
00:29 The North European Men's Volleyball Club Championship Under-19s tournament
00:33 was held in Rovaniemi, Finland in October this year,
00:36 with eight countries participating in both boys' and girls' events.
00:40 I spoke to two Kent players, who both appeared for the England national team.
00:45 I found out about the Kula Fin around early September.
00:48 I saw the name, saw my name on there, and just overjoyed.
00:51 Ahead of the tournament, it was just adrenaline pumping, it was beautiful.
00:55 It's quite a good way to get there and play.
00:57 I think the atmosphere with the crowd really uplifted us all,
01:00 and it was just a great experience overall.
01:03 I was actually nervous. I was nervous when I got there, naturally,
01:06 but before the tournament I was just dedicated to training hard.
01:10 I was going to the gym, eating well, so that was amazing.
01:13 We had a room with a sauna. I've never had that before.
01:18 Everything was just incredible.
01:20 The main hall had a TV that had everything streaked on at the games,
01:24 so it was incredible.
01:26 The Invicta team is no ordinary group, even with two national players.
01:31 The rest of the group are selected from a small three-team league
01:34 known as the Invicta League.
01:36 This invitational league aims to play a higher calibre of volleyball
01:39 compared to county league.
01:41 And for those that want to make it as a professional one day,
01:44 getting into this league and then being hand-picked by the coach
01:47 is a definite boost.
01:49 I think there's not a huge amount of exposure to the sport presently,
01:52 and that makes it difficult for organisations to get behind it.
01:55 It's changing. We're getting a lot more exposure.
01:57 I think things like Instagram and TikTok have really helped
01:59 with putting volleyball more into the public eye.
02:01 People are seeing the game a lot more.
02:03 But that's the main reason, I think, is exposure.
02:05 We don't have enough of that at the moment.
02:07 Coach Thomas has also exclaimed his wish for the Invictas
02:10 to make it out of the third division
02:12 and turn volleyball from an amateur sport into a professional one.
02:16 Finn McDermott for KMTV.
02:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]