It was getting towards the real pointy end of the season with Landstede. Finishing 10 points clear on top of the finals playoffs we qualified for the championship with a home court advantage. It was now just a matter of who we would be playing against in the championship with only two more rounds to decide between Lycurgus (last years runners up to Landstede ) or Drissma Dynamo (a club that our coach was at before just two years back and took to a championship win).  With Dynamo winning their last two matches and Lycurgus only winning one it was decided, it was a Landstede vs Dynamo championship.

The Championship title was dealt with in a best of 5 match series, the first one at home on the 5th of April. We came out a bit off key, we were nervous and it was showing as we lost the first set thanks to hitting errors and poor serving where as Dynamo were playing freely with a ‘nothing to loose’ attitude. After a stern talking to by our coach at the change of ends we managed to focus and power through to a 4 set win. Everyone was pumped bit still very focused, as we knew we had two more matches to win and next one being a big one.

Dynamo is home to the largest stadium in the Dutch League with a large and loud fan base to fill it. We had 2 days of training before the second match. The 2 days were spent watching video of Dynamo and mimicking their style of play, to plan how best to beat it. We came into the second match focused with 2 solid days of training and confidence in our game plan to go 2-0.  We stormed through the first set managing to block out the crowd feeling completely in control and continued with the momentum snowballing, finishing in a straight sets win with our best game statistically for the whole season - only one hitting error and no passing errors for the whole team in 3 sets was way above our average. Suddenly the championship felt within reach but knew we couldn’t get too excited just yet, funny things can happen in big matches.

Training was again very solid and we all felt ready as we walked out on the court and into an amazing atmosphere surrounded by a packed stadium filled with fans from both sides, blue and white Landstede flags and the brass band or two making a racket. Never have I played in front of such an electric crowd. As the first whistle blew, the adrenaline kicked in and it was time to focus. Our game plan hadn’t changed much at all from the second match and just as long as we remained aggressive we were confident it would work again.  Throughout the match Dynamo were making us work but we still managed to take the first two sets. The third set came and we again powered through it winning the final match in straight sets fueled by pure excitement and energy from seeing the finish line.

It was an incredible feeling. We managed to pull off one of the more dominant seasons in Dutch League history, only dropping 1 set out of 10 in the championship.

We had the medal ceremony, got awarded with flowers and soaked in French Champagne, then set off on a well-deserved night out with the team. It was a great ending to an amazing life experience and learning curve that was my first year playing professionally. It was for sure tough at times with the hard training, being away from home and injuries but the rewards in the end made it all worthwhile with the biggest reward yet to come, going home!

On the 15th of April I flew out from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur where I waited for about 10 hours before the last and final flight to Melbourne where I was greeted by a very excited Mum, Dad and brother Sam. Although I couldn’t get too settled in at home as on the 21st I would be off to Canberra to trial for the Australian Senior Team leading up to this years World League.

My week at home was fantastic spending my time being with my family and girlfriend, Georgie and just doing normal stuff again.

I’ve been at the AIS now for two weeks and have been selected in the Senior Team Squad for World League. It’s been a goal of mine to make the Senior Team for a long time now and it feels great to be able to earn my spot on it and tick it off the list.

World league is spread over 3 months with away rounds in Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland and Canada as well as home rounds in Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide. This  will be the first time ever the World League has come to Australia which is very exciting not only for us, as we get the rare opportunity to play in front of a home crowd, but also for the Australian public as they will get to see the world’s best volleyball.

Some very exciting times ahead and I can’t wait to get started with it all!

I hope you guys enjoyed reading my blog; I’ll be sure to keep you all updated on the progress of the Volleyroos throughout our World League campaign.

Jordan Richards.

Hey guys, things have been going well since my last blog. We competed in our second round of the CEV cup against a Belarusian club ‘ Stoitel Minsk’ our first match was at home, then the week after in mid December we traveled to white Russia to play for our chance to proceed to the next round. Unfortunately we didn’t get the result we needed to progress but I was keen to get back to Zwolle because I knew my girlfriend Georgie would be there! After not seeing her since id left home it was so great so pull up to my apartment in the car and see her in the window waving me up. Georgie’s arrival came at a good time too. The club gave us all about a week off over Christmas so Georgie and I had organized to go to Paris over Christmas. We got there on the 23rd after a big day of travel and stayed till the 26th. It was absolutely fantastic, we spent everyday catching the metro into Paris Nord just outside the ‘Hotel de ville’ and walking around into the night from there. Christmas day in Paris was my favorite, we walked through the latin Quarter to the Louvre, down an busy Champs-Elyśees to the Arch de triomphe and finished at a night market under the Eiffel tower, it was absolutely amazing.

When we got back it was straight back to the grind. That was up until I started feeling a pain in my lower abdominal. After not being able to play for a while I was booked in for scans. Unfortunately the scans showed up a 1cm by 1cm tear in my Rectus Abdominal even though it wasn’t a large tear in terms of how big tears can be, it was in an awkward place to heal and I was ruled out for 7 weeks. Abdominal tears have a notorious history for reoccurring so it’s really important not to be tempted to return earlier then what the doctor suggests.  I found the 7 weeks hard not being able to play but was glad Georgie was still here, it meant we had a bit more time together and were able to go on day trips to Amsterdam, Rotterdam and just explore Zwolle a bit more which was fantastic. On February the 3rd it was time to say goodbye to Georgie. We got up early and caught the train to Schiphol airport in Amsterdam both not saying much on the way in as if trying to hide the fact that she was leaving. It was sad seeing her go through the gates but I was so thankful that she did come over and that we got to do and see some very cool things in Europe.

While Id been injured the team have been playing well, we won the national Bekker tournament (a tournament held between the division one and two clubs in Holland) and we qualified for the finals series sitting clear on top of the ladder. At the moment we are coming towards the tail end of the finals series and as of just last night we have locked in our spot in the Championship play offs! The remaining matches will determine whom we will meet. Being able to come out over 10 points clear on top of the ladder with a hefty list of injuries we are feeling confident in our chances to go back to back as players including myself are slowly returned to the playing list.

Very exciting times are to be had for myself and Landstede volleyball in the coming month but as great as this last month will be in Holland I cannot wait to get on that plane home to Aus. 8 and a half month is a long time to be away from family and friends and I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone again!

That’s the update for now guys, hopefully the next time I write ill be typing away with Dutch league championship medal around my neck!

Jordan Richards.

My time at Landstde had been going great, training was good and we had been playing really well leading up to the first Dutch League match. I felt as if I was just starting to settle into my new lifestyle in Zwolle before I got an email from Grant Robinson at volleyball Australia informing me that I had been selected to Represent Australia in the under 23’s world championships in held in Uberlandia, Brazil and lead up tournament in Buenos Aires Argentina.

I was overwhelmed with excitement as I read through the email and saw my name sitting on the team list. It had been a childhood dream of mine to represent my country and to be fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to wear the green and gold in a world championship against the top 11 national teams in the world, I was pumped! Although I had to try and contain my excitement, as there were a few things I needed to sort out first. One of them being the problem that my clubs weren’t willing to release me for the trip. After getting the email I informed my coach and we arranged to hold a meeting with the Landstede board. I told them what I had been selected for and what it would involve.

I put on my best manners, used my please’s and thankyou’s and hoped like hell they would say yes. But they didn’t ‘it would be during a very important time for Landstede as we would be playing some tough matches at the start of the season’. I tried not to show it in the meeting but I was feeling pretty down, I’d been given this amazing opportunity to fulfill a dream and goal of mine but not allowed to take it.

Although a week after there was a big swing, the club president pulled me out of the gym to have a meeting right away with my coach (mid way through squatting, this had better be important!) and it was, they told me after many emails back and forth from volleyball Australia they had reconsidered my involvement in the world championships. I was released to go!

The next thing to do was organize my Brazilian visa and after a pointless trip to Den Hague and two trips to Rotterdam I picked it up a day before my flight, just in the nick of time, one day later and I would have had to stay in Holland.

I flew out on my birthday and arrived the next day on the 26th of September in a sunny Buenos Aires. We had a training the next day then straight into our first match as a team against a world volleyball power house and current world ranked no 1 national team Russia. They were big, they were strong they hit the cover off the ball and that’s exactly how they came out and played against us. Although pushing them in all three sets we weren’t able to keep a consistent enough pressure, which really is critical if you want to take down a quality team such as Russia. You give them one small opening and they can tear teams apart with there big serve and block. Our net match was the following day against Iran; we were all very fired up to play these guys. Ever since they stole our socks from our washing load at the hotel on the second day, it became personal. No one steals a pair of my club socks and gets away with it! But they did, we played poorly losing in straight sets leaving the court with a bitter taste in our mouths and a fire in our bellies, a feeling that stuck with us, a feeling that could only be taken away by coming out the next day and playing well against Argentina. The odds were against us for this one, ranked no 5 in the world and coming into this match undefeated with a strong home crowd behind them, Argentina were looking strong. A real unit, Argentina with there silky smooth skills, fast plays and desperate defense, they are able to break teams down.  We knew we had to play well and we did. After losing the first two sets we came out and played some of the best volleyball I’ve been a part of. We had a plan and we were executing it perfectly. We blocked there opposite out of the game, served their pass hitters off the court and tore them up though the middle leaving their setter with no real dangerous options. We won the 3rd and the 4th and continued to power on through to the 5th with the momentum snow balling, pushing us on with each point. All of a sudden its match point and I’m up to serve. I go back and ace the libero to land our first international win for the tour! It was a massive swing around from our match against Iran, the perfect response. The next day we had off. Filled with team meeting, video sessions and recovery we recharged our batteries and prepared ourselves for the final against Russia the next day.

We played better than our last encounter but lost. Argentina was finished, next on the schedule, travelling to Uberlandia, Brazil for the u23’s world championships.

It wasn’t the best days travel, waking up at 2:30am, getting to the airport late to discover that one of our players had left his passport at the hotel (yes that’s right of course it was a middle) finally we boarded. We flew out to Brazil, changed airports and only had one 2 hour flight to Uberlandia to go, or so we thought. Just minutes from landing in Uberlandia the pilot had to turn around and head back due to bad weather. It was around 4 hours of pointless flying and another 5 hours of waiting to board again then one last flight before we touched down in Uberlandia.

The world championships had begun. With my ‘pump up playlist’ pumping through my headphones we walked into the stadium for the first time as the nerves and excited flooded through me. The biggest tournament of my career was about to get under way and I could not wait. It was a really cool venue to play in. a big dome shaped stadium with thousands of seats surrounding the one court with the flags of the 12 nations hanging from the roof.

Before the tournament we had set a goal for the world champs of finishing in the top 8. For us this meant we would have to beat at least 2 nations in our pool of 6 to qualify for the play offs. This goal was going to be a tough one, there weren’t going to be any easy games here. Sharing a pool with Serbia, Iran, Tunisia, Mexico and Russia we were going to have to work.

Here it is our first match. It was a moment ill never forget, standing tall and proud, arms linked as the Australian national anthem played. Before every game this would happen, the two anthems would play, we would shake hands, exchange small gifts then game time. It was the best way to start a match, singing along to the national anthem with your teammates before the match just reminded you what it was you were doing, representing your country.

We had somewhat of a rough start to the world champs coming up against 3 of the strongest teams in our pool in the first 3 days, Iran, Russia and Serbia. Suddenly we were down to the pointy end. We had two more pool matches, first against Tunisia then last against Mexico, two must win matches for us if we were to reach our goal of finishing in the top 8. Coming into the final two pool matches we were feeling confident, although losing we had tested the top teams but just weren’t able to finish sets off and we had improved with each opponent we faced. Tunisia was up first. We had watched footage of how they played and had put together a strong game plan to take them down, it was now just a matter of executing it. We lost the first set but were able to fight back and take the second only to lose in 4. They defended really well and we weren’t able to keep on a consistent pressure. Our goal was gone but we still had one final match against Mexico. We went though our normal routine of team meetings, physio appointments and video sessions and took of to the stadium for our final match. Both Mexico and us were fighting to secure the 9Th place and the first win of the tournament. We started well winning the first two sets comfortably to 17 and 18. Mexico had to change something and they did as they swapped one of their pass-hitters that we had picked as our serving target. Mexico gave us a scare and won set number 3. Thankfully we were able to break them down in the 4th and final set to win our first world championship match! It was all over and we were stoked with walking out with a world championship win and a world top ten finish to our names.

One our last few days in Uberlandia we spent it watching the finals. First we saw Brazil take down Russia to make the gold medal match then Serbia beat Bulgaria. The next day we spent most of the day at a water park desperately trying to get some sun before I headed back to Holland, then took off to watch the medal matches. First we saw Russia destroy Bulgaria before thousands of Brazilian fans all kitted out in yellow flooded into the stadium. Brazil was going in as the underdogs but their strong crowd helped them get across the line in close 5 setter. The environment was unlike any volleyball match if seen before, there’s something about 7000 plus people going nuts for the game love that just makes you excited. We stayed for the medal presentation and left the stadium for the last time. The world championships were officially over.

It has been an amazing year for me and just when I thought it couldn’t have gotten even better it did at the world championships. Playing for my country at worlds was the most amazing experience of my volleyball career, playing against the worlds best with the Australian flag worn proudly on my chest will be something ill never forget and feel so lucky to have done.

 The next day I was on a plane heading back to Zwolle, straight into the start of our season. I got off the plane in Amsterdam and was driven straight to training, No rest for the weary! Back into the routine in Holland ready to tackle the Dutch league season that lies ahead and I can’t wait to get started!

Well there its is guys, that was my amazing experience at the 2013 Under 23’s world championships in Brazil and the best three weeks of my volleyball career. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.

Jordan Richards.     

The flight over to Holland was a long one. After goodbyes to my family and girlfriend at Melbourne airport I was travelling for over 20 hours stopping in Kuala Lumpar before the second flight to Amsterdam. I was picked up by one of the staff at Landstede volleyball and 'team mum' Conny where she drove me straight to my first training. I'm not going to lie it was a struggle, not sleeping for 30 hours made it hard. After training my coach Redbad took me on a tour of the brand new Landstede stadium- very impressive, a great bog two story building fully decked out with a new weights room with all the latest equipment upstairs, Physio rooms, staff offices, training courts and then of course our home court capable of holding some big rowdy crowds, and with all the laser lights, massive speakers and crazy fans surrounding the stadium it makes for an amazing atmosphere to play in. After my tour I was finally able to put all my luggage down as Conny drove me to my apartment. Right in the city centre of Zwolle I'm sharing a two bedroom, two bathroom and two kitchen apartment with one of my team mates. As for the training well it's great. I'm learning a whole different style of play. At the moment I'm still in pre season but we've been training for 6 hours every day with Saturdays off. Generally we start in the gym for an hour before ball training for a further two hours straight after. Morning sessions mainly focused on serve receive, defence and serving reps as our 3 hour session in the late afternoon has been a lot of side out attack and match play. I'm really loving playing with such a great team with some very experienced and established players. Lately we have been playing a lot of practice matches against other Dutch clubs and clubs from different leagues for example when we travelled over to Antwerpen Belgium for two matches against a strong top div Belgium outfit. we played well on both days but went down both times in 4 then a close 5 setter. It was great to see a bit more of Europe when we had a wonder around Antwerpen city on the first night. I felt like a real tourist taking photos every chance I could of these beautiful 500 year old buildings and churches littered throughout the city but I couldn't help myself, some of the European architecture is just breathtaking. It was there in Belgium when I realised how amazing a lifestyle I'm living as a pro volleyball player, getting paid to not only do something I love every day but to travel the world and experience new cultures which really is half of it, I think it's a pretty sweet gig! It's been a very intense two weeks in which I've been here and it's just about to get even more full on as our Dutch league season starts soon. We're coming of the back of winning the Dutch championship last year and are expected to take it out again this year with what our coach says is an even stronger team than last years. After the Dutch league we will play in the CEV cup which is where we will play some really quality clubs. The CEV cup is the European championship where all of the best European clubs come together to compete for the CEV championship. Last year my club didn't make finals but got to play some top clubs from Germany and Italy and some great players such as members from the US, and french senior national team. I just can't wait to start the season! Outside of volleyball life is pretty cruisey over here with my free time filled with mainly cooking, stretching and skyping. I start my online university course next year so I'm just using this year to settle in and get used to everything which has been surprisingly easy thanks to my great team mates and club. Well I think that's all from me for now. I hope that gave you guys an idea of what I'm doing over here. I'll try my best to update you guys on how I'm going throughout the season!