Ben Pipes: Cheap to use funding as excuse as volleyball chases acceptance

When you have a world ranking of 94 then obviously that is not going to be easy, but let me explain that I want a legacy for the sport I love – and to achieve that we have to aim high.

Aspiration and legacy are inter-twined. If as a team we make it to the quarter-finals I believe it would show enough to the British public and sporting/funding institutions that there is a legacy to be had.

That kind of acknowledgement would also generate another success for our team and sport – acceptance.

The funding cuts we have suffered in recent years have damaged our legacy and limited our options for preparation towards London. However, we are not a team to make excuses nor will we start now.

We are realistic that it is a blessing for our sport to now be funded in Great Britain.

At the start of my national team career we were still paying to play for England and I would even pay to play for my own club team. Now we have the ability to run a full GB summer programme.

There is no hiding from the fact that if you want sustained success you have to invest.

But I believe it is up to the current GB team to make heads turn in London so that there is no question that volleyball should have sustained increased funding.

Funding cuts do hurt our development programme. It is a massive blow to the legacy of our group and a wave of new players for London.

However, as players we are in control on the court, and we have the chance to show that volleyball is a sound investment.

We cannot march to the doors of those who give out the money and demand more.

We have to train and focus on the job in hand and trust that success on the biggest stage in the sporting world will be enough to awaken those in control of funding that we have a sport that is going to take off. Also, you do not bite the hand that feeds you.

We will take whatever support we are lucky enough to get and we will make that money work for us. It is cheap to use funding as an excuse.

I will always remember making a pact with the team that our journey was about legacy and a future for the sport we all love.

As players we know the only way to achieve that is through breaking our bodies and pushing our level so that come judgment day there would be no room for “we should have done more” or “we could have trained harder”.

We will have to be perfect. We are not saints, there have been low days, bad performances, but I don’t feel we have ever backed off or backed down from meeting the challenge.

Interest in volleyball is increasing in Britain. Participation is growing year on year.

Schools have also taken to adding volleyball to their prescribed sports.

However, the lack of sports halls leaves clubs and teams dependent on sports centres; fighting for space at a high cost.

We also do not have a semi-pro or pro league in Britain which leaves a large gap between us and other European countries.

These are the kind of issues that curb our growth as a sport.

We have to pave a performance path for the young athletes so that the sport grows into something we can take to sponsors and funding bodies and say ‘hey, we have a product here and it works’.

On a team level, the job we have to do is to remain on the same line we have been on for the past four years.

Our world ranking is due to the fact that we haven’t played any ranking competitions. I am not saying we are a No 1 team or even in the top five. But we have beaten the nations ranked 11 and 14 only last summer.

We have always been given great direction from head coach Harry Brokking and so far I believe we have passed all of our check points.

It is now a case of keeping our belief in the direction we are going and keeping up the work ethic instilled in us by the coach and federation alike.

The players will remain at their pro teams in Europe, looking to win as much silverware in the pro leagues of Europe.

Almost all of the British Team and GB Squad (24 plus) play professionally in Europe. I play in Holland. It is the only way the programme can work.

Players train full-time with their teams, are paid and supported by the club in ways of housing, clothing, food etc, and play in the strongest leagues and European Cup competitions. Our chances increase with every player we put into the pro ranks in Europe. I believe in our team and the progress we have shown but more importantly the work we will continue to do to put our team in the best possible position for London.

This is a period for growth and maturity. Every year we have seen increased numbers of British athletes going to play professionally in Europe.

Every year we see those players return having grown as a player and a person, which only strengthens us. There is an electricity in the air when the group come back together.

And every year our following has grown. We have also found that once people come to watch they often return. It is partly to do with the ethos Harry has instilled.

No matter how good, how bad, or how slim the chance, he wants us to play hard and full for every point. To put blood on the floor.

I hope that those who have come to watch have seen a team that would run through walls to win a point, from the first to the very last. It is important to us for the public to see and share our passion.

I am not counting my eggs before they have hatched but I can tell you that the feeling of leading out the GB team at London 2012 is almost beyond words.

I have been with the team from the beginning, suffered and succeeded with all of them.

We are brothers not team-mates. It is an honour to lead them out. Amplify that by a home Olympics, and I have goose bumps just thinking about it.