VK Junior Ryan Poole showed, at the weekend, just what a versatile and upcoming volleyball talent he is as along with his partner Harry Jones (Wessex VC) he was crowned British Under 18 Beach Volleyball Champion at a tournament in Sandbanks, Dorset.

Ryan and Harry also narrowly missed out on a second title as they finished runners up in the Under 20 event, a remarkable achievement competing against much older players as both boys will have another 4 or 5 years competing in that particular age group !

Also at the tournament, for their first taste of competitive beach volleyball, were VK Juniors Rhys, William, Chris and Adam.
Will and Rhys paired up but Rhys suffered an early injury and had to withdraw but with a new partner, Will managed to win his first set and then his first match on sand.
Likewise for Chris and Adam. Through continued improvement during the day they won their first set and then their first match on sand.

Both pairs expressed afterwards how much they had enjoyed the experience and wanted to play more beach. Eric and Sean are trying to coordinate some Junior sessions up at the beach courts in St Albans though transportation seems to be the biggest hurdle. Please speak to either if you are interested.

Several of the club’s juniors (boys and girls) recently took part in the London Youth Games tournament, playing in the Barnet and Enfield teams. The Enfield boys team managed to win their group and qualified for the Semi-finals at Crystal Palace last Saturday where, without 2 of their key starting 6 players, they still managed to give Haringay (based at St Thomas More School Volleyball Academy) a good run for their money – taking 19 points in the 2nd set !

Considering the team only had 6 dedicated training sessions in the lead up to the games this is a considerable achievement – well done boys ! All of the boys who played in the Semi-final will be eligible to play again in next year’s tournament.

This weekend, VK Junior Robert Poole was the proud recipient of the Volleyball England “Young Volunteer of the Year” award for the 2013-14 season. This follows on from his MVP award at the recent National Under 18 Men’s Cup Final.

Over the past 18 months, Robert has clocked up over 150 hours of coaching both as an assistant coach and as head coach at his school where he runs a lunchtime session for year 10s.

Ironically, Robert was unable to receive the award in person as he was in Bulgaria representing the England under 20s team in the second round of the CEVs (European Championships) !

Congratulations to our new Junior Boys Team who competed in their first ever HVA Div 2 match at Welwyn last night under the expert guidance of Eric.

Here is a brief match report.
Lost 3-0 to 18,15 and 15 points. 23,15 and 20 mins.
But they had some great rallies and held there own, it’s the usual bad run of points on one or two rotations. They all got a fair bit of play. Good spirit on court, supporting one another. Very satisfying overall, considering. Kept it simple everyone set from middle and 6 up. Refs and other team were really impressed and complimented them. Gave them a clap when they left.

Well done boys and to Eric. Sounds really positive for the future of this team.

Just a reminder that VK Barnet are holding outdoor sessions on the grass at Totteridge Tennis Club throughout the summer on Wednesdays at 6.30pm (Juniors) and 7pm (Adults) (weather dependent !).
Both groups play on until dusk.

We currently have between 16-20 people turning up but new players are welcome to join us.

Cost is £2 for Adults and £1 for Juniors.

The address is Totteridge Tennis Club, Great Bushey Drive, London, N20 8QL

Additional sessions are sometimes arranged for Sunday afternoons at 2pm, just speak to Joe, Angelo or Dave.