February 2020 – Exeter Challenge

Feb 16 2020

Our Exeter Ladies Challenge Experience – Plymouth University Girls

Each year we ask a number of our younger players to report back on their experiences in the SW. This years will be the 25th anniversary of the ELC event so we ask the 2019 Plymouth University girls for their comments.

Player 1.

Being allowed to play in the Exeter Ladies Challenge, gave our team a chance to practice and play together at the end of the season. The other teams at the tournament made it fun and challenging to play against them. Due to the wide variety of teams, there was a fun atmosphere throughout the whole day with teams supporting each other whilst playing against each other competitively. It was nice to see players from all ages playing together and to see the young and upcoming volleyball players of the south west playing volleyball at such a level. Also a huge congratulations to the boys from south west who won the tournament. They were to play against.

Player 2.

This was my first time participating in a volleyball tournament, exhausting yet thrilling, I really enjoyed the day and would definitely participate again. Playing timed games against players of all ages and abilities, from those local to the area to as far as Bristol, meant every game was different. One of the teams we competed against in the early stages were the tournament winners, South West boys. The game was very competitive and the timed element meant every point counted and added that extra pressure. And when you’re not playing, your team becomes a refereeing team, so there is no chance of getting bored across the day.

Player 3.

Standard of Exeter tournament was really good, all teams had good performance. Our team started off really well but eventually lost to the south west boys team, which went onto win. The day went smooth and was really well organized , everyone seemed to have fun and our team genuinely enjoyed playing together again against good teams.

Player 4.

We played a respectively right amount games for a days tournament and considering a team dropped out it still didn’t effect the days organisation. Each of our games were so close and the deserved winners of the day were South West boys which we had a very close game with. Furthermore, showing the high level of play by each team. A really enjoyable day, highly organised by Dave and Rachel held at Riverside leisure centre.

Summary:

The standard and organisation of the tournament is at a high standard with all teams being at a similar ability whilst most importantly having fun. The winners of the day SW boys under 15’s ended up at the top after a close finals with PMVC ladies but were the deserving winners in a nail biting finale. Big thanks to Dave and Rachel for a great fun filled day of volleyball that is inclusive for all abilities.

Karis Lang

Dave Reece 0 Comments

Feb 6 2020

My IRB Experience – Tom Falkner Ham

Each year we ask a number of our young athletes to report back on their experience, today we focus on Tom Falkner Ham who was selected to represent the SW at last summer’s Inter Regional Beach Championships.

Tom Falkner Ham (2nd from the left)

This was the first year the inter regional beach competition took place and I was lucky enough to be selected to represent South West England. It was held at the beach centre in Cardiff. The beach courts in Cardiff have only been there a few years and it’s an awesome setup already. It used to be a bowling green and now they’ve turned it into 6 beach volleyball courts!

The competition was over 2 days and there were 8 regions from across England and Wales. The competition was a good standard and there was quite a few England international players playing. The strongest team in both the men and women was London. They were very good and ended up winners of the whole competition in both genders.

My partner for the competition was Dan Huggins. He was the defender and I was the blocker. We had never played together on beach and this was the first time. Our first game we played against a pair of wildcards in the tournament who we beat with confidence. It took us this game to get used to each other and how the other person set and passed etc. After the first game it just got better and better and we then won all of our games on the Saturday apart from losing against London which was a tough game which we lost 2-0. This meant that we were through to the quarter finals on the Sunday.

We finished on Saturday at around 6pm. We then went to Cardiff metropolitan university halls of residence as this was our accommodation for the night. It was only a 5 minute drive from the beach courts which was ideal after a tiresome first day. All of the food was provided at the beach centre so we eat there which saved us going out for food in the evening and morning.

The next day we went for breakfast at the beach courts before playing our first match. This was the quarter finals and we played South East. We beat them 2-0 and our second seeds also won their game so we didn’t have to play a golden set thank god! This meant we were into the semi finals who we played against West Midlands.

West Midlands were a strong team but we managed to beat then 2-0 but our second team lost against there second team so it had to go to a golden set. This is up to 15 points and only 1 set. We played the pair we beat 2-0 and we were 11-14 down in the golden set. We then managed to pull it back to 15-14 and then it went to 15-15 and then we took the set 17-15 so it was a great win for us! This meant we were through to the final to play London.

In the final, we won the first set against London quite comfortably. Then London got their act together and won the remaining two sets which was a hard loss for Dan and I. Our second seeds lost their game 2-0 which meant we were runners up of the competition. This was a great experience overall and a lot of beach volleyball was played. It was also very well organised!

Tom Falkner Ham

Dave Reece 0 Comments