Pilot a success

Aweekend of high-standard volleyball from Western Victorian teams will see opportunities for competition in the future.

Teams from Warrnambool, Mt Gambier and Ballarat traveled to Horsham for a series of matches in a pilot tournament for the establishment of a permanent regional league.

Regional Affiliates development officer Tim Popple, who put the weekend together, was full of praise for the associations who took the opportunity.

“With Mt Gambier in the middle of reforming, Warrnambool and Ballarat on the rise and of course Volleyball Horsham in a strong position at present, it was great to see all the players going hard at it on the court, but more importantly socializing with each other off the court,” he said.

The tournament consisted of men’s, women’s and juniors with the majority of games going to a deciding set and few blowout results.

Warrnambool president Steve Young was pleased with the weekend.

“It is important for our players, both senior and junior to get opportunities outside of domestic volleyball, and this concept fulfills our aim of exposing as many of them to higher level volleyball,” he said.

Mt Gambier president Campbell Baker said he could not wait for the next opportunity.

“Volleyball in the mount is reforming after years being dormant, so we are slowly building” he said.

“Our closest opposition in South Australia is four-and-a-half hours away, so building relationships with Horsham, Warrnambool and Ballarat is our aim.”

Volleyball Ballarat’s Henry Murnane was also a big supporter of the concept.

“We were able to get some players involved from Daylesford, which was good for us as it helps build our senior program in Ballarat,” he said.

Popple sought feedback from all associations and there was commonality among each one to continue with the concept.

“All want to come back in mid-may. This will have a twofold affect for the Victorian teams, as it will serve as a warm-up for country championships in June, while Mt Gambier will continue to build its program and take every opportunity afforded them,” he said.

“I’m confident we’ll get representation from Sunraysia and Bendigo next time, so the concept only looks like getting bigger.

“To accommodate this expansion will take some creative scheduling.

“It would be nice to have everything under the one roof, so that senior players can look after the juniors, without the need to jump from one stadium to another, and juniors can get the opportunity to watch good quality senior volleyball.

“But we’ll keep in touch with the associations and keep encouraging them to try and get representation across all teams, so we end up with another big weekend of volleyball.”

Warrnambool won the men’s division over Horsham. Horsham won the women’s section from Warrnambool and Warrnambool defeated HTLC Phantoms in junior competition.