Presidents Comments
President’s Report
Congratulations to our athletes and coaches who have just returned from the 2010 Australian Junior Volleyball Championships in Perth, W/A.
Ashby Smith - Under 17 Blue Boys - Gold Medal
Brad Mason - Under 19 Blue Boys - Silver Medal.
Cara Meyer - Under 17 Blue Girls
Amy Mann - Under 17 White Girls
Adrian Fox - Under 17 Gold Boys
Lachlan Highdale - Under 17 Gold Boys
Paul Freckleton - Coach Under 17 Gold Boys
Brad Hassell - Ass Coach Under 17 Gold Boys
All involved have shown a huge amount of dedication and commitment to represent their state and all associated with Sunraysia Volleyball Inc are extremely proud of their collective efforts. Special mention to Ashby Smith and Brad Mason for bringing home medals.
Equally important are the parents and families who have supported our representatives. For those unfamiliar with state selection, it comes at a substantial financial, time and travel cost to families over five months.
Jim Mason
President
Sunraysia Volleyball Inc.
President’s Report 12/4/10
Australian Under 15 Volleyball Championships – Albury NSW: 6th – 9th April 2010
I was fortunate enough this year to be in a position to attend and support our coaches and athletes at the under 15 National Tournament, as an assistant bus driver and caterer to SVI Academy Co-ordinator and Development Officer, Paul Freckleton.
I would firstly like to thank Paul and our coaches, Vicki and Kirsty Telfer and the ‘two Brads’- Hassell and Mason on their collective efforts in running the entire Academy Program and developing our young athletes in the manner that they have. I have been lucky enough to have travelled extensively with Sunraysia representative teams over recent years and I have always been incredibly proud of our people for the manner in which they conduct themselves both on and off the court, this trip was no exception.
Given that the average age of our selected athletes was about thirteen (13), their behaviour and performance was admirable to say the least. Keeping in mind that the purpose of our attendance is to provide ongoing development for our athletes and expose them to the next level of competition, against the best state sides at this age. A few highlights from the week, purely from my personal perspective and in no particular order, are as follows;
- Our girls, playing a total of nine games and winning five was a terrific effort given that two of them are only eleven years old. Vicki and Kirsty, I know are extremely proud of the girls and can see great potential in the group as only Karly Bartlett and Amy Burke are top age. I was party to a conversation between Paul Freckelton and the Norwood Head Coach when the later asked if he could steal our girls as he can see their technical skills were better than most, at their age. An example of this was their ability to serve so well, if my memory is correct, the team produced in excess of 300 serves to win points during the competition. This is an absolute feather in the cap’s of Vicki, Kirsty and Paul for the manner in which they have coached and developed the girls.
- Our boys produced their best against the top Queensland Team (silver medallists) to take a set off them and remain competitive during this match. The absolute excitement of the group and the parents supporting them was just terrific. One parent commented to me, “I don’t care if they don’t win another set for the week, that was worth the trip to come and watch”.
- The enthusiasm displayed by our girls in supporting the boys team set a very high bench mark, one which the boys were not going to be able to match without some input! Prior to the girls last game to determine where they finished, the boys were issued with whistles and rattles supplied by one of the parent group. Whilst this gave the boys an advantage that they needed, I suspected that another incentive was required to keep them focused for the whole game. Easy answer, as we were to have the wind up dinner that night, a smorgasbord of all you could eat, the boys found voice and lung capacity that even surprised the girls. I think the girls might have won in any event, but the boys claimed the win was purely from their support. (As one would expect from boys!).
- It was very pleasing to see Victoria play off and win gold in both divisions and take out the overall trophy for the strongest state. The boys final was an exceptionally high standard game and enjoyable to watch. The ongoing supporting rivalry between Vic and Qld at each end of the grandstand gained momentum when all our athletes found voice in support of Vic and were motioned by the Vic athletes to come and join them, an invitation taken up by all our group. It was great to see our kids involved with the three Vic teams in the stand and even more pleasing after the game when all the four Vic teams were on the court, turn to our group and clap them in appreciation of their support. A fitting way for our athletes to finish the week.
The bus trip home was reasonably uneventful, but again the behaviour of the group over that distance and after such a big week was terrific. On arrival home it was again very pleasing to see all our athletes go up and thank each of us individually for the week and the Academy staff for the whole program.
To all the athletes involved in both the under 13 and under 15 groups, thankyou for your participation and effort and I sincerely hope that you all try out again next year. To those top age I hope to see you step up to the elite program trials.
Finally to all the parents and carers of our Academy Athletes, be very proud of your kids and thankyou for supporting their participation in the Academy, which again I hope continues. Should any athlete or parent wish to leave a comment I encourage you to do so via the ‘Feedback’ link on this website.
Jim Mason
President
Sunraysia Volleyball Inc.
