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Volleyball has been played in regional Victoria since the early-1960’s. During those early days, most competitions, like the founders of our great sport, were run by, or in conjunction with, the YMCA. Competitions were running at the Ballarat School of Mines and the YMCA’s of Bendigo, Geelong and Warrnambool. In August 1966, an invitation was extended by the Victorian Amateur Volleyball Association to play in the first State-wide event at Monash University. Geelong and Bendigo accepted the invitation with Melbourne represented by Sisu. For Bendigo players at least, this was the first exposure to ‘international rules’, which prevented upward scoops with open hands, introduced an action called a ‘dig’ and seemed to penalise most overhead actions using the fingers as ‘double hits’! Over the next few years, the sport expanded through the YMCA movement with weekly competitions starting up in Ararat, Warrnambool and Latrobe Valley. The Victorian Regional Council of YMCA’s proposed the first Victorian YMCA Championship in Warrnambool on 30th March 1968 with an entry fee of $4.00 per team. The sport continued to grow with additional regional associations affiliating with the Victorian Amateur Volleyball Association (now VVI) who provided the coaching and refereeing assistance needed to raise the standard of play. In 1970, the YMCA Championships started to give way to the Victorian Country Championships with the first ever event held in Bendigo. In 1973, a re-organisation of the VAVA saw the proposal to create separate Victorian Country and Metropolitan Volleyball Councils. The VCVC was established in 1974 and took over the organisation of the Victorian Country Championships. For the next 10-12 years, the Country Championships grew in stature with the inclusion of two divisions for open men and women and junior divisions for boys and girls. Representative teams successfully contested Australian Country Championships between Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales on several occasions. In October 1985, the VCVC voluntarily wound up the Council and handed the responsibility for the Country Championships back to Volleyball Victoria, who by that time had full-time State Executive and Coaching Directors. Since that time, the Long Weekend in June has continued to be the date of the major annual volleyball event for most regional associations, even though in 1986 the Junior Country Championships were wound up in favour of state and national schools events. A number of regional associations have ceased to exist, as have a number of regional tournaments. Regional leagues were created in both the Gippsland and Central, North-West regions, with Gippsland the only one to survive. Some associations have successfully competed in the State League competitions at various times. Following the experience gained by a number of regional administrators working on the Sydney Olympic Games, a proposal to revamp the Victorian Country Championship was put to VVI in early 2002. Later that year, the Volleyball Victoria Country Championships Commission was formed to implement the recommendations of the review and take control of the event into the future. These championships now provide regional players and officials an opportunity to participate in a consistently well-managed event, using many international protocols and a high standard of presentation. Without doubt, this event now ranks as one of the best volleyball events in Australia. Source: 2022 Country Championship regulations The management of the Country Championships by the Victorian Country Championship Commission certainly achieved the objective of raising the standard of presentation, and delivering a consistently high quality event. However, the demands on Host Associations began to take their toll, with several Associations declining the opportunity to host the event due to the high workload. Similarly, the workload of the volunteer Commissioners also took its toll, with the Commission unable to fill casual vacancies. In 2023, the Commission handed the organisation of the Championships back to VVI, who with paid staff, were better equipped to manage the event.This item contains Correspondence of the Council in 1980 and reports on the Country Championships for that year; it includes the following documents: 11171.10a Two day VCVC Conference 1980 11171.10b VCVC Representative Team against South Australian Country Teams 11171.10c Maffra Sale Volleyball Affiliation Correspondence 11171.10d VAVA Notices and Sports Administrators Newsletters 11171.10e VCVC letters re Maffra Sale and Leongatta Volleyball Affiliation 11171.10f VAVA re Use of State Director of Coaching 11171.10g Goulburn Valley Volleyball re concerns over Country Championship Regulations 11171.10h To Mildura Volleyball re affiliation and structure in Australia 11171.10i To Leongatta Volleyball Association acceptance of affiliation 11171.10j VCVC re Maffra Sale Affiliation 11171.10k VAVA Notice of Meeting postponement 11171.10l Goulburn Valley Amateur Volleyball Association application for Country Championships 11171.10m Latrobe Valley Volleyball Association list of office bearers 11171.10n VAVA Treasurer Vacancy 11171.10o VAVA Proposal for appointment of an Executive Director 11171.10p VCVC Re Country Championship finances 11171.10q VCVC Record Secretary's Report Oct 1980 11171.10r VAVA Notice of 1980 AGM 11171.10s VCVC Financial Statements Oct 1980 11171.10t Letter from John Fricons - apology for non attendance 11171.10u Notice of VAVA AGM 13 Dec 1980 11171.10v VAVA re 1981 Calendar of Events 11171.10w VCVC Re Swan Hill Appeal against fine 11171.10x VAVA letter re publicity guide sheet 11171.10y South Australian Volleyball Council re interstate games 11171.10z Ballarat Amateur Volleyball Association Tournament notification 11171.10aa South Australian Volleyball Association appointment of State Executive Director 11171.10ab Bendigo YMCA Volleyball Association list of office bearers 11171.10ac To South Australian Volleyball Association re interstate teams 11171.10ad Secretary financial statement May 1980 11171.10ae Notice of AGM June 1980 11171.10af Secretary Petty Cash Statement 11171.10ag re New VCVC Constitution and By-laws 11171.10ah Entry Form and Info Country Championships 1980 11171.10ai Reports on the U20 Country Championships 1980 11171.10aj Reports on the U17 Country Championships 1980victorian country volleyball council, vcvc, victorian amateur volleyball association, volleyball victoria