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.

Please note that due to overrunning refurbishment works to QE2 Sports Hall, training will not be taking place on Wednesday evenings until further notice.
Training will instead take place at an alternative location this coming Saturday (5th October) and the following weekend (12 October) betweem 1pm and 3pm.
The venue for training will be the Aldenham School, WD6 3AJ.

UPDATE – We have now been informed by QE that they are still not ready. So training is cancelled this week (18th September)

The committee is seeking out alternative venues and will update here and on Facebook if there is any news.

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Due to refurbishment to QE Sports Centre taking longer than anticipated, new season training will begin on:

Wednesday 18th September at 20:00 (Open/Team Training)

Saturday 21st September at 14:30 (Beginners/Improvers)

As a result, outdoor sessions at Totteridge will be available on the 4th and 11th of September (from 18:30 to dusk)

Wednesday sessions are open to all in September for tryouts then at coach’s discretion.

Saturday sessions are aimed at beginners and rusty players but anyone wanting to improve their game is welcome to attend.

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.

6 of our VK Juniors travelled down to Sandbanks on Sunday to take part in the annual Beach Volleyball Festival.
Ryan and Josh paired up and took part in the U18s competition, as part of their England Cadets Beach Squad development, facing some strong opposition from both home and overseas. They performed well, improving game by game but the age and experience of the opposition showed as they lost both their pool games. The idea was to give them match practice (as they had been unable to compete in the U16s competition the previous day as they were playing in the London School Games) so the experience fulfilled it’s purpose.

4 of our new VK Juniors also took part in their 1st beach tournament. Adam and Dom played together in the U18s ‘B’ competition and although they didn’t win any pool matches they too improved vastly over the day and in their last game, they had the pleasure of winning more points against the eventual competition winners than anyone else had achieved !
Louie and Luca played in the U14 competition. Both have only been playing for about 4 months and neither have played any sort of match before, never mind on the beach ! They made excellent progress, improving as the day went on, eventually winning their last pool game. They then faced the eventual winners in a semi final and took a set off of them. Considering that all the teams in their group live within 15 minutes of the coast and train 2-3 times a week, this is an incredible achievement !