The IVHF Board of Directors have unanimously voted to induct Denis Le
Breuilly, founder of the Jersey Volleyball Association, into the International
Volleyball Hall of Fame. Le Breuilly was first informed of the honour via a
face-to-face call from the IVHF Executive Director, prior to the
organisation’s worldwide publication of their Class of 2026 Legends.
Included in the Leader category, he is the first individual from Great
Britain to be inducted.
Prior to this prestigious honour, Le Breuilly has previously been inducted
into the Volleyball England Hall of Fame [2024] and awarded Honorary Life
Membership of Volleyball England. Le Breuilly was also the first to be
awarded Honorary Life Membership of World ParaVolley (2018), the latter
being the sole International Federation responsible for volleyball for
athletes with a physical impairment.
Whilst still involved with Volleyball England, as both a referee and
administrator, Denis Le Breuilly was first introduced to Sitting Volleyball
whilst at Crystal Palace officiating a Volleyball England Men’s Cup Final. He
qualified as an International Sports Organization for the Disabled
International Referee in 1992, After ten years as an International he was
required to retire having reached the age limit of 55. In his final year as a
referee, he was appointed 1st Referee for the Volleyball England Men’s
National Final, the World Standing ParaVolley Cup Final in Slovakia and the
European Women’s Sitting Volleyball Cup Final in Hungary.
Unlike other Paralympic sports, Sitting Volleyball is a team sport which
does not rely on technology. Players compete sitting on the court,
athletes do not use wheelchairs and are not allowed to wear prostheses.
At international level it is purely Man v Man, Woman v Woman.
On retiring from officiating, Le Breuilly held numerous roles within the
International Federation. including Secretary of Referee Commission 2005
– 2010, Team Leader/Chair of Awards Committee – 2019 – 2023, Chairman
of Rules Commission; Chairman of Constitution Committee; Interim
General Manager 2006 -2008; Senior Staff Tutor and Coach/Mentor
(Referees) – until 2023; Senior Staff Tutor (Technical Officials) – until 2023;
Technical Commission Member – Human Resources 2021-2022
In his letter of support of the World ParaVolley Board’s nomination of Le
Breuilly, former World ParaVolley President Barry Couzner OAM stated,
“After retiring from active refereeing, Mr Le Breuilly joined the Board of
World ParaVolley as Sport Director. In this role, he provided the necessary
leadership that “saved” the discipline of sitting volleyball from being
excluded from the Paralympic Games, by working on the Anti-Doping
requirements of WADA and the Classification requirements of the
International Paralympic Committee, Mr Le Breuilly ensured that the
discipline remained in the Paralympic Games where it has thrived as a
major attraction to this day.”
In 2010 the International Paralympic Committee had appointed Denis Le
Breuilly as the Technical Delegate, responsible for the planning, delivery
and presentation of Sitting Volleyball at the London 2012 Paralympics.
Following the outstanding success of the event, IPC also appointed him to
mastermind the Rio2016 competition. Spectators at Rio2016 voted Sitting
Volleyball the most exciting and entertaining sport of the Paralympic
Games.
Denis has always emphasised his love of refereeing all volleyball
disciplines but particularly Sitting Volleyball, which is the fastest,
incorporates all the volleyball skills and is played by athletes who refuse
to be held back by their physical challenges. They are enabled not
disabled. He is particularly proud of enabling a sub-saharan Men’s team to
qualify for and compete at London 2012 and a Women’s team to compete
at Rio 2016, becoming the only Women’s team to do so in any paralympic
sport. When he became International Federation Sport Director there was
not a single woman in Africa classified to play international sitting
volleyball!
Le Breuilly has emphasised that, though he is being recognised for his
contribution, the honour is founded on the support received from many
colleagues, mentors and friends along the long road of almost 50 years
involvement with volleyball and 35 years with ParaVolley, in particular,
without the support, sacrifices, love and guiding influence of wife Pauline
and daughters Lisa and Clare the circumstance could not have arisen.
The International Volleyball Hall of Fame 2026 Induction weekend is set for
October 16-17 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA – the birthplace of
volleyball.