People responsible for starting volleyball in Horsham were John Mibus, Gary Bird and Trevor McDonald. Ladies involved in the early days include Tess Yeo, Trish Brickell, Pat Williams and Jenny Chaston. The Horsham Volleyball Association was officially formed in 1976. The game was played at the basketball stadium during the winter months, which assisted with the financing of the basketball stadium, which had just undergone a rebuild. In those early days there was no basketball played in winter due to football and netball commitments, so court time was readily available. Teams were based around workplaces like Coles, CRB and schools. History shows that CRB were the dominant men’s team of the early days. Lead by Mick Stirrat, Geoff Mitchell, Leigh Doolan and Peter Miller, no team really threatened CRB in a run of four premierships in five years. Celtic, Oddities and Tweeties were the dominant women’s teams. The teams were quite adult orientated, with very few youngsters playing the game.
