Play sitting volleyball

Before you begin

• Decide where you’ll play – sitting volleyball can be played inside or outside.
• Spend a bit of time getting familiar with the rules.
• Ask if any parents or carers play sitting volleyball, or get in touch with a local club or university society. They may be able to help lead the activity, or may have equipment you could borrow.
• Don’t worry too much about using volleyballs – lighter or softer balls may be best for younger players.
• Set up the game using the ‘Sitting volleyball layout’ sheet. The net shouldn’t be higher than 1.05 metres (the height for official women’s games).

Warm up and get ready to play

1. The person leading the game should introduce sitting volleyball. It’s a Paralympic sport where players score points by hitting a ball over a net and grounding it on the other team’s side. They should explain that everyone is sitting down, so it uses different skills and it’s important to warm up the right muscles.
2. The person leading the game should mark a start and end line.
3. Everyone should split into two teams; the two teams should stand in two lines opposite each other.
4. The first player from each team should tap a ball towards each other, so they get one tap each. They should then skip sideways (doing sidesteps) towards the end line. When they reach the end line, they should return to the start line by sitting on the floor and using their arms and legs to propel themselves along.
5. Once both players have made it back to their team, the second players in each team should repeat step four. Everyone should keep going, until everyone’s had a turn to warm up.

Play the game

These rules are for a slightly simplified version of sitting volleyball. For more information, check out a national or international association, for example Volleyball England, ParalympicsGB, or World ParaVolley.

1. Everyone should get into teams of 12 people. Each team should choose a captain.
   
   
2. The captain from each team should choose either heads or tails. The person leading the game should flip a coin. Whichever team’s captain guessed right should serve first.
3. Six players from each team should sit on the court, three at the front and three at the back, just like on the ‘Sitting volleyball layout’ sheet.
4. The person leading the game should explain that everyone must keep contact between the floor and their pelvis. When hitting the ball, one buttock (or an extension of the player’s torso) must be in contact with the floor.
5. The person in position one in team who’s serving first should serve the first ball from the service line (at the back of the court) over the net. They should serve by tossing or releasing the ball, then hitting it with one hand (or a part of the arm).
6. The other team should try to send the ball back over the net. Between them, they can hit the ball up to three times.
   
   
7. Teams should keep sending the ball back and forth over the net until a team grounds the ball on the other team’s side of the court (or fails to return the ball or hits it out). If a team grounds the ball on the other team’s side of the court, they score a point. If a team hits the ball out, or fails to send the ball back over the net, the other team gets a point.
8. Whoever wins the point serves for the next point.
   
   
9. It’s up to the person leading the game how substitutions work.
   
   
10. It’s up to the person leading the game how many points a team must score to win. Teams could start with the first to 10 points winning, to keep it simple.