After what’s been not the greatest summer of volleyball, I’m sure everyone is looking forward to getting back inside and out of the rain.
Wednesday evening training sessions will begin again at Queen Elizabeth Sports Hall on 14th September 2011, at the usual time of 8pm.

Further plaudits for more of our junior players. Under the careful guidance of Sue, the LBBarnet girls team narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-finals of the LYGames this year whilst the boys lost in the 3rd set of their semi-final at the weekend. These guys have been attending regularly on Wednesday evenings at Totteridge recently and I for one am very impressed with their progress. I just hope they continue at the club next season but on a positive note, it was good to hear plans mooted at the AGM last night to invite some of them to club sessions next year. Having witnessed the successes of James, Robert and Ryan at the club, surely this can only bode well for the future of VK ?

Another fantastic weekend of volleyball – and some great results for VK Barnet ! Robert and Ryan paired up with 2 local boys to play in the under 16 boys 4-a-side at Ashcombe Tournament on Saturday and narrowly lost in the final – to an u17s team (??) – (having been unbeaten all day !). On the Sunday, Sue’s LBBarnet boys team (James, George, Nnamdi, Czarek, Adrian and new boy Josh) triumphed in the Mens Div 4 category at the same tournament, again, having gone unbeaten all day. This is a brilliant result just before they go to contest the London Youth Games Finals next weekend – especially as it was a MENS division, not boys – and a great debut for Josh, playing in his first ever tournament!! Well done lads. Last but not least, VK also entered a mixed team at the same tournament (Jackie, Ryan, Angelo, Megan, Robert, me, new boy Eric and a friend of mine, Anthony). The team were unlucky to lose 31-30 in the FINAL ! – another great result against adults in the TOP MIXED DIVISION at the tournament. Special mention must go to the 3 juniors who performed throughout the day against some strong adult opposition with Megan and Ryan having to play every point of every match ! Well done everybody and thanks to Sue for organising and Eric and Angelo for transporting the boys there and back.

Quite a bit to catch up on with the Juniors recently. Congratulations are in order for James Munro who went to Modena in Italy over the Easter period to take part in a tournament, playing for England Cadets ! Robert was due to go too but was unable because of his broken ankle. 2 players selected for the National age group team – this is a great achievement for any club and 1 that VK should rightly feel proud of ! Other good news – both Robert and Ryan have been invited to attend the England Cadets “High Peaks” training camp at the end of July (unfortunately James is now deemed too old to attend – by 3 days !). This camp is 5 days of intensive training under the guidance of some of the top coaches in the country and forms a springboard for players hoping to represent England at junior or senior level. Once again I feel that this is an achievement that VK should feel proud of – remember, all 3 of these players started playing here !!!

The Annual General Meeting of VK Barnet Volleyball Club will be taking place at Angela’s house this coming Sunday (3rd July) at 4pm.

All full-time members are welcome to attend.