Kent's only pro volleyball player gets England call
"It's my job, I get paid to train, play games," he said."In England, it's an underfunded sport so it's really rare to have professional players."Luke Thomas, head coach of Kent Invicta, said while it was "normal" to see professional volleyball players abroad, in the UK there were only a handful of clubs."He's picked things up really quickly, he started very late, it's a really technical sport and difficult to learn, so the fact he's done it is unheard of," said Mr Thomas.Hawney will be hoping to lead Kent Invicta to successive promotions as the team chase the Division 2 title next season in their quest to reach the Super League."My short term goal is to do well at this tournament, then I want to get into the England team," he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Three generations of same family bring out the big guns as they all grab Mr Universe gongs
THREE generations of the same family brought out the big guns as they all grabbed Mr Universe gongs. Grandad Terry Weiss, 65, won the over-65s category, his son Kyle, 37, got the Classic Athletic award and his son Ethan, 16, bagged the under-21s title. 2 The trio muscled out the competition in Italy this month, scooping nine gongs in all. Kyle, of Barnsley, said: 'We think this is a world first. 'I can't believe what we've achieved. 'My feet still haven't touched the ground. 'The hardest part was getting all the nine 20in trophies home.' All three now qualify for Mr World in Rome in October. Terry, who has won more than 90 titles including Mr Universe and Mr World, said: 'I'm so glad I got to do that with the family.' The trio followed a strict diet of lean meat, eggs and spinach before the contest but celebrated afterwards with a slice of pizza. 2
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
No one needs social media – Lucy Bronze issues warning over Jess Carter abuse
Lucy Bronze has warned social media companies football players can 'thrive' without their services after her England team-mate Jess Carter was the target of vile racist online abuse at Euro 2025. Carter, in a statement posted to her accounts on several networks, said she will be 'taking a step back from social media and leaving it to a team to deal with', while team-mate Lotte Wubben-Moy said she 'will not continue to feed the very platforms that enable this abuse with no consequence' for the remainder of the tournament. And while Bronze was adamant players could quite easily cut ties with the platforms, she was nevertheless 'sad' for Carter, who she conceded might also be 'missing out' on a chance to celebrate with supporters as the defending champions prepare for Tuesday's semi-final with Italy in Geneva. 'I think no player needs social media,' said Bronze. 'I think that's one thing that we can always remember, is that we play football because we love the sport. 'We love playing, we do love connecting with our fans. Social media is a great way to do that, but we don't need it. 'I think that's something that the platforms should be very aware of, is that no one needs social media. If you want to carry on in sport, especially, we can thrive without it, but it is sad that players are missing out on so many of these great messages. 'Someone like Jess, she's had an amazing tournament. I think she was one of our best players in the Netherlands game, for example, and she should be able to see messages and the fans and the support and live in that moment, because it's something you should be able to celebrate. 'So it's sad that players are having to choose between this roller-coaster that social media sends us on.' In a statement, Football Association chief Mark Bullingham confirmed his organisation has already referred the 'abhorrent' abuse to UK police, who are 'in touch with the relevant social media platform', and said the FA 'will continue to discuss with the relevant authorities and social media companies about what more can and should be done.' The Lionesses have collectively agreed they will not be 'taking the knee' ahead of kick-off in Geneva, a symbolic anti-racism gesture that since 2016, when NFL player Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the Star Spangled Banner in protest, has become widespread practice across sport. 'Until now, we have chosen to take the knee before matches,' read a team statement. 'It's clear we and football need to find another way to tackle racism. We have agreed as a squad to remain standing before kick-off on Tuesday.' Bronze agreed that there 'has been change' since Kaepernick's protest but added: 'I think the problem is that as the game grows and everything grows, in football and in life, as much as there might be change, there are more outlets for abuse and racism as well. 'It's just not enough. I think that's the point. Not enough is being done. There are small changes being made, there's always small steps forward, but that's the problem. It's always a small step. 'And we don't want it to be small steps anymore. We want it to be 'this is happening, there's change, it's unacceptable', and there's no more small steps, because we get to the point of where it should be in the world, and especially in the world of footballers. 'It feels like there can be a place where we can control abuse online, especially racism online. Everything is monitored online, so it just doesn't make sense to us.'
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
England Lionesses star sends powerful social media reminder after Jess Carter suffers racial abuse
Lucy Bronze has spoken out about social media and football after team-mate Jess Carter bravely opened up on suffering racial abuse during the European Championships Lucy Bronze has come out firing at social media companies after England team-mate Jess Carter was the subject of racial abuse during Euro 2025. The right-back, who has played in the same back four as Carter for all of the Lionesses ' Euros games, spoke powerfully ahead of Tuesday's semi-final against Italy. 'No player needs social media, I think that's one thing that we can always remember,' Bronze said. 'We play football because we love the sport, we love playing. We do love connecting with our fans, social media is a great way to do that, but we don't need it. 'I think that's something that the platforms should be very aware of - nobody needs social media if you want to carry on in sport. We can thrive without it. 'But it is sad that players are missing out on so many of these great messages, someone like Jess, she's had an amazing tournament, I think she was one of our best players in the Netherlands game. She should be able to see messages from fans and the support and live in that moment, because it's something that you should be able to celebrate. 'So it is sad that players are having to choose between this rollercoaster that social media sends us on.' Bronze acknowledged some steps have been taken in an effort to tackle racism but said things can go further. 'If you look back 100 years to 50 years to 20 years to 10 years, there's always small steps forward. But that's the problem. It's always a small step,' she said. 'We don't want it to be small steps anymore. We want it to be: this is happening, there is change, and this is unacceptable.' Versatile defender Carter has been a regular at the Euros, starting four games out of four. However, in the light of racist abuse which she says began at the start of the tournament, she has opted to protect herself by stepping away from social media. Bronze is still optimistic about those responsible for the abuse facing consequences, but recornised the growing scale of the online abuse problem. "From an England perspective, I would like to say I'm very confident in our security team that they are wholeheartedly putting everything into finding the people who are doing this," she said. "We work very tight with the police, with online securities as well. It's something that we actually had to have meetings about before the tournament, not just with racism, but with online abuse in general because it's such a huge factor specifically in women's football more now than in men's football. "So it's something that we are very aware of and we have very good security or also trying to work to find the people to rectify this and to hold people accountable because I think that's one of the ways that we can put a stop to this is by making sure that people are held accountable for their actions and what they're doing." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
