My IRC Experience 2024 – Jessica Hughes

Each year we ask a number of our youngsters to report back on their SW IRC experience, today we focus on Jessica Hughes. (SW Number 6, centre back row) from our U15 Squad.

On Friday the 24th of May we travelled to Kettering for the Inter-Regional Volleyball Championships, I had been selected to represent the Southwest of England U15 girls team. After arriving at the hotel around 5:30 the team and coaches went out for dinner, played some team games and had a quick meeting before bed.

On Saturday we woke early to eat breakfast and headed to the National Volleyball Centre. We had a long day playing against other teams, in between games we played some team building games. We all went out for dinner and then back to the hotel where we had another team meeting and did some team bonding games.

On Sunday we woke up knowing it was going to be a tough day. By the end of the weekend, we had won 4 games and lost 2, leaving us in 5th place overall.

It was a wonderful experience playing as a team, I was lucky enough to play with a group of very talented players, and we helped each other to build on our skills and strengths, and as there is always room for improvement! A massive thank you to Janna and Jeremy for coaching us and helping us grow individually and as a team.
It was a fantastic weekend of volleyball and spending time with the girls on the southwest squad this year, great fun and great memories.

Also, a big thank you to all the coaches at Torexe, without their support and coaching I would not have had the opportunity to try out for the Southwest for the IRC.
Thank you for all the opportunities and the fantastic experience.
Jessica Hughes.