VK Junior Ryan Poole showed, at the weekend, just what a versatile and upcoming volleyball talent he is as along with his partner Harry Jones (Wessex VC) he was crowned British Under 18 Beach Volleyball Champion at a tournament in Sandbanks, Dorset.

Ryan and Harry also narrowly missed out on a second title as they finished runners up in the Under 20 event, a remarkable achievement competing against much older players as both boys will have another 4 or 5 years competing in that particular age group !

Also at the tournament, for their first taste of competitive beach volleyball, were VK Juniors Rhys, William, Chris and Adam.
Will and Rhys paired up but Rhys suffered an early injury and had to withdraw but with a new partner, Will managed to win his first set and then his first match on sand.
Likewise for Chris and Adam. Through continued improvement during the day they won their first set and then their first match on sand.

Both pairs expressed afterwards how much they had enjoyed the experience and wanted to play more beach. Eric and Sean are trying to coordinate some Junior sessions up at the beach courts in St Albans though transportation seems to be the biggest hurdle. Please speak to either if you are interested.

Several of the club’s juniors (boys and girls) recently took part in the London Youth Games tournament, playing in the Barnet and Enfield teams. The Enfield boys team managed to win their group and qualified for the Semi-finals at Crystal Palace last Saturday where, without 2 of their key starting 6 players, they still managed to give Haringay (based at St Thomas More School Volleyball Academy) a good run for their money – taking 19 points in the 2nd set !

Considering the team only had 6 dedicated training sessions in the lead up to the games this is a considerable achievement – well done boys ! All of the boys who played in the Semi-final will be eligible to play again in next year’s tournament.