Sitting Volleyball is a modified version of able-bodied indoor volleyball for anyone! It is however the Paralympic sport for people with impaired lower limb function.

The game is played on a smaller court with a lower net. For this reason, it is a faster game than able-bodied volleyball.

Players must keep one buttock in contact with the floor at all times during play.

Sitting volleyball is scored by a game, set and match system. A game is the first to 25 points. There are five games in a set, so a match is best-of-five.

International Rulebook – Sitting Volleyball

How does it differ from the standard game?

The court is smaller — 10m x 6m
The net is lower — 1.15m for men and 1.05m for women
Players remain seated on court during play
The service can be blocked
The passage of play is quicker due to the reduced court size

Sitting Volleyball is open to athletes with a physical disability who meet the minimum disability requirements for Volleyball. An athlete’s disability must be permanent (either progressive or non-progressive). Athletes with progressive physical disabilities are given a temporary classification and must be classified at each competition.

Competitors can include athletes with cerebral palsy, athletes who are amputees, athletes with limb paralysis, athletes with joint restrictions, athletes with shortened limbs, athletes with progressive illnesses such as muscular dystrophy or multiple sclerosis, etc.

Sitting Volleyball provides the opportunity for enjoyable competition between abled bodied players and players with a disability. Able-bodied players have no advantage over disabled players, making the game very suitable for integrating able & disabled players.

Classification systems provide the means to group together athletes with a similar level of impairment in relation to a particular sport. The objective of classification is to ensure that the result of sport competition is determined by sport skill, rather than differences in the level of impairment or disability. In a team sport, such as Volleyball, teams are composed of a group of athletes with a set combination of classifications, thereby ensuring that a team’s overall impairment or disability level is similar. This creates a level playing field between teams as well as allowing a mix of players with varying degrees of ability to play at the one time.

There are 2 classes for Sitting Volleyball. These are:

MD (minimal disability): these athletes either have a similar level of impairment as the “A” standing volleyball players, or they meet the minimal disability special condition applicable especially to Sitting Volleyball. These conditions include severe ligamentous instability of the knee or shoulder and several others.

D (disabled): these athletes have impairments that are equivalent to the “B” and “C” players described for Standing Beach Volleyball.

A Sitting Volleyball team may have a maximum of one (1) “MD” player on court at any time, and the remainder of the team must be made up of “D” players.

How Do I Get Classified?

To get classified complete the “Get Classified Form” on Paralympics Australia’s website. 

If you have further questions on classification please contact paravolley@volleyball.org.au

VIDEOS

Intro to Sitting Volleyball from International Paralympic Committee 

How to play Sitting Volleyball from Holiday Inn UK & Ireland

DOCUMENTS

Sitting Volleyball Coaching Activities for Kids from Australian Sports Commission 

The first sports club for the disabled was established in the Netherlands as late as 1953. Athletics and Sitzball (of German origin) were the primary sports. Soon it was found that Sitzball, which is played sitting down on the floor, was too passive; more mobile forms of sports were sought.

The Dutch Sport Committee in 1956 introduced a new game, ‘Sitting Volleyball’, combining sitzball and Volleyball. Since this time Sitting Volleyball has grown universally as one of the most practiced sports in competition for the disabled but also interested ‘able-bodied’ players with injuries to the knees or ankles.

Development
Since 1967, international competitions have occurred, but it was not until 1978 that Sitting Volleyball was included in the International Sports Organisation for the Disabled (ISOD) program. The first official International Tournament – under the umbrella of the ISOD – took place in 1979 in Haarlem (the Netherlands).

In 1980, it was accepted as a Paralympic Sport with the participation of seven teams. The international development can be called tumultuous. Clinics have been held all over the world. Since 1993, Sitting Volleyball championships were organised for men and women. It has become one of the main team-sports in the Paralympic Program. It is a fast, exciting and crowd-pleasing sport, which can show the athletic skills of disabled athletes of both genders. Sitting Volleyball had the potential to grow into a sport in which the disabled and non-disabled persons can play at a high technical level.