Through years of hard work and dedication, Ben Pipes progressed up the ranks to captain the Great Britain volleyball team in this year’s London Olympics. He has spent seven years plying his trade abroad, and currently plays for Dutch team Landstede Zwolle. Volleyball is a sport that Pipes is fully committed to. It is a sport with a fairly low profile and suffers from a lack of funding; something that Pipes has had to struggle with and is continuing to struggle with to increase participation within Britain.
When asked how he first got into the sport he answered: “My volleyball career started when I was 14 when a PE teacher recommended a volleyball weekend course run by his school. It was a real chance encounter, but I fell in love with the sport.” Ben tried his hand at a number of sports before settling for volleyball. “I was a jack of all trades, trying every sport. I could use my height advantage and had a broad base in a sporting background so I picked it up quickly, and never really looked back.”
By the age of 16 Pipes had somewhat dedicated his life to his sport, and declares that he “was very lucky with the fact that my junior coach let me move into his attic so I could train four times a week with the university team based in Sheffield.” He eventually turned professional and made his senior debut for England at the tender age of 18.
Pipes was one of an extremely fortunate generation to be able to represent Great Britain at the home Olympics and it is clear that he cherished every moment. When asked to describe his experiences, he commented: “I still haven’t found the right answer. Even just talking about it still gives me goosebumps today.” The sheer amount of hard graft put into reaching his goal of representing his country seems to have clearly paid off and he is still riding on a wave of euphoria.
The main ideal for the London Olympics was that it would ‘Inspire a Generation’ of young people to take up a new sport, and emulate the successes of the heroes of the games. In terms of inspiring the youth of today to take up volleyball the GB captain was initially disappointed with his team’s failure to qualify from the Olympic group stages. Yet he was surprised with the response he has received with “kids wanting to know how they can get involved.” He went on to state: “It was really about legacy and we’ve got to take this chance, this snapshot that we’ve been given.” It appears that Pipes is in for the long haul and is dedicated to inspiring a generation. As well as continuing to play volleyball, Pipes works for Leaf Athlete Academy, a programme which attempts to increase public involvement in volleyball.
The fact that volleyball is a less widely played sport in the country has led to some funding difficulties. Back in 2009, Team GB’s volleyball team had their funding reduced from what they originally believed they would receive. When queried upon whether more funding would have led to improved results at the Olympics he retorted: “It would be bold to say we would have done better.” Although he did admit that “more friendlies and tournaments could have been arranged” in order for the team to bond together and prepare for future tournaments better.
He believes that GB have got their budgeting wrong for volleyball. With the current system of funding the budget is set every four years. This means that the amount of money given to each sporting body is often based upon their level of performance at the previous Olympics. Pipes suggested that the money “should be given in longer ten or twelve year terms so you could make long term plans and that’s what it has to be in this sport if they are going to succeed.” Moreover, he believes that it would be advantageous to British volleyball and other smaller sports if they had advice from successful sports such as cycling. “Give me access to the kinds of people that I can pick their brains so I can find out some values that are worth more than money.” He wishes “for sport in the UK to be a bit more transparent with each other and share the opportunities.” An interesting ideal but one that may ultimately fall short.
Looking to the future Pipes comes across as a true optimist. He understands that qualifying for the Rio Olympics of 2016 may be a tough challenge but states that his “experiences have led me to believe that I’m almost invincible. I’m going to keep dreaming.” It is really refreshing to meet someone who believes in themselves as much as he does. Yet who can blame the man who has captained his country at the grandest stage of them all.