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Fiona Welsh - Volleyball Player
Fiona is a volleyball player from West Lanarkshire. She plays for Scotland and was once a Brownie and Guide."Have compassion for other people."
Montrose. I have many happy memories of my family visits to Montrose; it was so different from Glasgow. I felt like I was in another country.
This is a difficult one to answer. Obviously I would like the Scottish team to win the World
Championships; however I have to be realistic. Scotland is a small nation and Volleyball is
not a popular sport.
But Scotland is improving, and the importance of an active lifestyle is being promoted and encouraged.
The Scottish Senior Women's National Team are hoping to qualify for the European Championships
next year and then host the Finals shortly after that. So our immediate goal is to beat the
other small nations in this section and then win the tournament.
It was in Blantyre Sports Centre, near Glasgow. I joined Blantyre volleyball team when I was
around eighteen years old and I had never played the sport before. My brother's girlfriend at
the time (now his wife) was playing for Blantyre Volleyball Club and they were short of players.
She knew that I was sporty so she asked me to come along. I didn't have a proper hobby as I
had given up tap dancing and majorettes the year before, so I decided to give it a try. I did
take to it immediately, although I wasn't very good. In fact I was probably awful but I did
enjoy it!
I am particularly proud of my captaincy. When the last captain retired I was asked if I would
like the honour of being the Scotland captain. I was over the moon and immediately accepted.
I hadn't expected that as there were more experienced players than me in the team - I only started
playing seriously in the last six or seven years. Some of the players were older too… OK,
one of them was older than me! I never really saw myself as a leader before.
I knew that I worked hard at training, competed during matches and generally got on with the
players in the team. Leadership does not come easy to me, unless I'm in the classroom (I'm a
primary teacher) I don't particularly like to take charge and boss others around - that's not
my style.
I have learnt that leaders do not have to be brash and that I can lead by example and be an ambassador for my team and my country - that is where the real honour lies.
There are many benefits to playing volleyball. It helps improve the body and the mind. It also helps build character and provides many social opportunities.
Have compassion for other people. That stuck and I now teach children who have Additional Support
Needs.
Be prepared - It always helps, especially when you have restless children in front of you.
The uniform. I particularly despised the brown, woolly hat with the pom-pom.
Camp. This was my first time away from home and it was great. My two best friends were also
there and we shared a dorm. I don't have that many memories of the camp but I remember I was
once out my bunk bed and cut my ear.
I was upset because I fell out with a friend, and I don't
even know what we fell out about. It was probably something trivial, but it seemed like a big
thing to me.
The older Girl Guides, that were there as helpers were great fun and one let me borrow her soft
toy. I can't remember the name of the soft toy, but it was the toy to have that year - a small
brown furry animal, whose thumb fitted in its mouth.
I was thrilled when I got my Cookery / Baking Badge. I did have to attempt the upside down pineapple cake several times. Cooking is still not a forte!
Kelly Holmes is one of my favourite athletes just now. She has such commitment and determination, and she also seems like a really down to earth woman. The look of delight on her face when she won that gold medal nearly made me cry.
I would give most of it to sporting organisations. Except football - I think the vast amount
of money that footballers earn is disgusting. Minority sports like volleyball really struggle.
There was no women's national team for many years because there simply wasn't enough money.
Trying to get sponsorship is also very difficult, but if money was given to minority sports
then perhaps the profile of the game would be raised and sponsorship would be easier to find.
To find out more about Scottish Volleyball please see www.scottishvolleyball.org
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