For those that have not heard, NVA Broadcast Announcer Nick England has started his own Twitch Sports Stream channel EnglandonAir during last year’s offseason. His streams include multiple breakdowns and analyses of volleyball competitions, including previous NVA events and FIVB and European Cup matches. Even better, England has begun bringing in top players from the NVA to give new insight into these matches. One player who has received a lot of attention since his involvement with the stream is Team Freedom Setter Ryan Kenny.

The New Jersey native is packed with years of volleyball experience from playing in USAV tournaments, with Team Durham in the UK, and a full-time coach with Side-Out Sports in Fairfield, NJ. His on-air insights with EnglandonAir were an instant success leading him to be invited back multiple times since his first appearance. Kenny shared, “My first stream with Nick was the first one he had done in a while, and we still managed to get the most views and subscribers from a single episode!”

The Twitch Stream platform is an excellent way for athletes to give relaxed game commentary on how they played, rather than being harshly treated at times by post-game reporters. “I’m mainly excited to get involved with as many promotional projects with the NVA as possible. I only have so long before I can keep playing at this level,” shared Kenny.

The streams have even allowed Kenny to scout the other teams and have helped plan Team Freedom’s roster for next season. Kenny went on to say, “I guess I am giving away all of my secrets in these streams, but that’s part of the fun!” Kenny is still set to play an integral role as one of the primary setters for Team Freedom again this season, alongside Matt Elias. With that said, Kenny is ready to jump into a coaching role if need be, especially with his newfound knowledge of each team’s weaknesses from his time on the stream with EnglandonAir!

Head on over to www.twitch.tv/englandonair to watch upcoming live streams and previous videos by subscribing to the channel for $4.99 a month! Fans can also follow Ryan Kenny (@ryanjkenny) and Nick England (@englandinsd) to find more NVA content and to be the first to hear when a new stream is on the way.

-NVA Staff Writer

Check it out! Here’s a throwback article from 2020 posted on the NVA’s main page back when Team Freedom won the first-ever Spotlight Showdown. During the event, fans voted for the best highlight clips leading up to the Showcase Event in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The NVA held its first-ever ‘NVA Spotlight Showdown’ last month, which gave fans a chance to vote for their favorite team clips in a tournament-style competition on Instagram. Team Freedom took home the gold as Mikheil Anthony Hoyte (aka The Zebra) won 53.2% of the online votes in the championship matchup against Northeast Force. This comes after almost a month of online voting from fans against 63 other team highlights, which shows how fascinating and impressive this viral volleyball clip is. This spotlight video shows the cohesion that Team Freedom has as a unit with solid three-point passing and deceptive one-hand setting while demonstrating the power and athleticism of the Zebra spike. Despite the current hold on competition with current COVID-19 guidelines, Team Freedom has still shown that they are among the league’s top teams.

Mikheil Hoyte, The Zebra, exclaimed, “I am immensely grateful to my family, friends, and loyal supporters who generously contributed their time and effort to our campaign during this NVA spotlight showdown showcase. This win is for them, honestly, but also many thanks to my team freedom teammates. I am grateful to be a part of that crazy family – Let Freedom Ring!”

Hailing from Trinidad and Tobago, Mikheil is a current member of their Men’s National Team. He also just completed an impressive season with Mjølnir Volleyball Club, located in the Faroe Islands (a Danish Island territory between Iceland and Norway). There they took first place in the 2020 season of the Flogbóltssamband Føroya (Faroese Volleyball Association). As one of the first international players to play in the league, along with Australian outside hitter Phil Freere, Mikheil’s time with Mjolnir is genuinely a testament to professional volleyball’s growth around the world. We are more than excited to have international players such as Mikheil with the NVA! Make sure to follow the links below to see what Team Freedom has in store for us in the upcoming 20-21 season.

Head on over to the NVA’s (@nvausa) on Instagram and find the archived IG story called ‘Spotlight Show’ to catch see all the top submitted highlights!

– NVA Staff Writer

Now seven months into quarantine in the U.S., states are slowly starting to lift certain restrictions, allowing businesses, schools, and sports gyms to open again. Sadly, many leagues within the NCAA have either canceled or postponed their seasons for Fall sports despite the reopening process. One such conference is the New Jersey Athletic Conference. As many athletes would love to get back to competing, schools still need to take precautions not to have large crowds at sporting events. 

Fortunately, the state of New Jersey has allowed indoor practices for medium-risk sports such as volleyball. Team Freedom has started to return to the gym after conversations with the government about protocols necessary to ensure the health and safety of our players, coaches, and team personnel. These protocols have included ensuring our facilities have proper sanitation and hygiene practices when our team is conducting training sessions. With NVA season looking to start up again in November, we’re excited to get the guys back up to speed and play again for our fans!

This Monday, the United States will celebrate Labor Day all across the nation. We celebrate workers’ strengths and achievements that have laid the foundation for our country’s success. Team Freedom would like to thank all laborers whose hard work makes it possible for our players to get on the court every day and compete at our best. 

A HUGE thank you to:

Agricultural workers whose hard work makes the tons of food that keep us fueled and running at our best.

All the Food Service workers who have kept all of our families awake and fed while they cheered us on at 6 am during weekend tournaments.

Janitors who have always cleaned up after messy fans and kept our floors nice and clean, so we don’t slip. And who now keep our gyms sanitized and supervised, making sure we all are safe from COVID-19.

Factory workers who make our net equipment, volleyballs, shoes, and jerseys, giving us the tools and means to play the sport we love.

Construction workers who have built our gyms give us a safe place to play the sport we love and distinguish Indoor from Beach Volleyball.

Bus Drivers who have always made sure we got to our games on time from high school matches, weekend college travel matches, and national tournaments.

For all other workers, we still appreciate everything you do for our lives outside of the sport; you truly embody the American spirit.

Today we hope you can really sit back and take a minute to relax and enjoy the day; YOU DESERVE IT! Once our season is back in full swing, we can’t wait to be working with you all again. We hope you’ll come to watch our games while we give you some fun and excitement on your days off. Once again…HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!