Go Spike

Volleyball England has unveiled a total image overhaul with a new logo and fresh red, white and grey colour scheme as part of a brand repositioning to enhance awareness, understanding and participation of volleyball in all its forms in England.

The new branding will be rolled out across Volleyball England in the coming months as the organisation continues to develop the sport to appeal to a wider audience in line with their “Go Spike!” campaign.

Lisa Wainwright, Volleyball England Chief Executive said: "”The new brand positioning has been designed to convey the sports of volleyball as adaptable, social, fresh and invigorating.”

“In order to achieve the highest standards of volleyball in this country, we felt that the organisation needed a new look that truly represented the modern, innovative, and professional qualities of both the sport and the Volleyball England organisation.

Volleyball England chose Thinkfarm, a strategic brand consultancy based in London, to help rebrand the organisation and develop campaign themes to promote participation.

Mark Norton, Creative Director of Thinkfarm, said: “Volleyball is totally inclusive, competitive but safe and offers a great social buzz. We feel that the new branding and ‘Go Spike’ campaign capture the sprit and excitement of the game as well as the values of Volleyball England’s committed and enthusiastic team.”

Nigeria Need More Than Goodluck

So Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan thinks it’s a good idea to ban Nigeria from international matches for the next two years. Can anyone tell me why this is a sensible move?

I'm guessing that the match that may have prompted President Goodluck Jonathan to make this controversial decision was the match against South Korea when Yakubu missed an easy goal...

Granted, a lot more was expected from the supposedly experienced squad, but let’s look at the situation from a different vantage point.

-Nigeria lost 1-0 to Argentina, Mexico lost 3-1 to Argentina so a 1-0 loss to Argentina isn’t wholly abysmal.
-North Korea was totally bum rushed 7-0 by Portugal (who was later sent packing by Spain)
-France completely self-destructed
-England never showed up to the tournament

With this in mind Nigeria’s early departure was relative.

Something worth noting is that in the first games of the World Cup, all of the African sides found it difficult to put the ball in the back of the net for whatever reason. Whilst their defense was respectable, their ability to convert plays into goals left a lot to be desired until the Ghana v USA match.

I understand the need to address technical issues on the team, but I don’t see how embarrassing your team and putting them at risk of penalisation by FIFA does anything to better the situation.

I find the decision extreme, especially when the easy solution is to ban Nigerian players from consuming any form of yam or garri whilst preparing for international tournaments.