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VOLLEYBALL PHILATELY: not taken seriously
added on March 1^st, 1999	by Günter Pilz, Austria

This short compilation of curiosities of sports – philately should show you that philately is not a boring, but very lively, interesting and sometimes funny hobby. Naturally my selection is not complete and could be much longer. But the main aim of this little article is to entertain you, my dear reader, for a short moment. I hope that you will be able to laugh about some of the examples shown below.

On Albania 001 b both players are jumping to block, but there is neither a volleyball nor an opponent to be seen.
	On Albania 00 7 the player with the light coloured jersey passed underneath the net to see the game from the opponents side.
We can observe one curious detail on Benin 004 a. It seems that the weightlifter with his heavy weight is pushing the poor Volleyball symbol to the bottom of the stamp so that we can hardly see it any more.
	On Bulgaria 00 2 the referee seems to be taking a rest in his armchair, studying the newest rules of the game in his little booklet.
The design of the Volleyball souvenir sheet of the Dominican Republic 004 is a bit strange, too. The pictured net might be used for catching fish but not for playing Volleyball, but what does it matter if you see the technique of the player.
	The player on El Salvador 003 will not be allowed to participate in any international competition, because jersey numbers up to 54 are not permitted. At the Olympics in Barcelona (issue reason of this stamp) he surely did not participate.
On the stamp from Guinea – Bissau 001 the attacking player seems to use unfair means: Instead of smashing the ball into the opponents court he hits his stomach.
	I am not sure how the player on Haiti 001 will play the ball, as she/he seems to have put one hand on each side of the net.
The players on Iran 001 seem to have mistaken the volleyball for a football (soccer-ball). Their fingers will hurt when they play a ball like that !
	The players on Israel 002 are using a very special net: While on the left hand side it is an ordinary net, on the right hand side the lines of the net have disappeared.
A new blocking variety is thaught by the players on Italy 003 as they are blocking parallel to the net. Will they be successful with this new technique ?
	On Yemen 001 a the player seems to have lost his interest in the match. Just look at his arms !
On Jordan 001 b the players in the dark coloured jerseys don’t seem to have noticed that the player with the light coloured jersey penetrated their side of the field.
	The stamp from the Cayman Islands 001 shows a basketball (upper arrow), although the text says that it is a Volleyball (lower arrow).
The playing technique of the player on Colombia 001 a will be whistled by the referee, or should it be a handball - player ?
	The players on Cameroon 002 c must sweat a lot as they are playing right above the Olympic flame.
“Pass the volleyball to us too, please !” the players in the background of Congo (Brazzaville) 003 b seem to say, as the other players are still in the warm-up phase.
	The player with number 9 on Cuba 017 seems to be very sure of his victory as he makes the V-sign.
And the player on Cuba 020 should watch out because she is in danger: the Baseball bat might hit her right in the face, while she might get hit from the boxer on her left.
	The players on Lebanon 001 are acting with a lot of motivation. Nevertheless, the sports hall they are playing in is already in ruins, as you can see from the columns on the right hand side.
I could not find out if the white round thing on Mozambique 003 is a billard ball or an egg of an ostrich, but certainly it doesn’t seem to be a volleyball.
	On Niger 002 c the player with the number 6 seems to be very anxious, not only because of the attack from his opponents, but also because all of his team – mates seem to have left him all alone.
Will the player on Rwanda 002 a succeed in defending this attack ? He deserves it for his acrobatic actuation, doesn’t he ?
	The athletes on the lower margin of Saudi Arabia 002, amongst them a Volleyball – player, do have a heavy load carrying the new “King – Fahd” – stadium in Riad.
The players on the stamps from the Tokelau Islands 001 and 002 seem to be dancing some Tokelauan folk dance beside playing Beach - Volleyball. Maybe there are some tourists present ?
And Volleyball is not only played in shorts and T-shirts but also in mini-skirts, as shown on Tuvalu 001 a.
	On Vietnam 001 b we can observe a player who is begging for mercy, because it doesn’t seem that he will defend this ball with a proper block.
To show you, my dear reader, that not only stamps are affected by errors and bad design, I would like to present the above FDC (with Volleyball – stamp Nº 2a) issued by the tiny little island of Tuvalu, which shows the date of Sept 31^st, 1996. Now I suppose that on Tuvalu the 9.100 inhabitants are using the Gregorian calendar. The strange thing is that according to this calendar the month of September has only got 30 days.

Of course this short compilation of curiosities is not complete. It should just show to the interested reader that sports - philately is not a boring activity but a very interesting and entertaining pastime.

Needless to say that there exist countless Volleyball stamps which are perfectly designed and printed as you can see from various examples from countries all over the world.

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VOLLEYBALL PHILATELY: not taken seriously