Pontins 2009 - Photos now online in the Gallery

A big thank you to Julie for taking the photos this year and I think you'll all agree she did a great job!

Sender: Mark

Congratulations !!!

The Ladies team were victorious on Sunday in defeating Birmingham University in the West Midlands Plate Cup Final at the Wolverhampton University Sports Centre in Walsall. Well done to Steve and all the players. The Men's team, having won a tremendously competitive semi-final against Redhill on Thursday, had to field a weakened side against Birmingham University in their Plate Cup Final and never really got going losing 3-0. Still creditable Runners up. CLUB TRAINING. Until the end of June Monday training sessions for the Juniors will take place in the Gym at the earlier starting time of 6.15 until 7.30. There will not be a Senior session during this period.

Sender: Graham Perrins.

Marvellous March!!

A big well done to all our girls who have competed in three national finals this month. After an excellent display in the Under 16s at the beginning of the month finishing 3rd this was followed by equally good performances at both the Under 14 and Under 15 finals. Competing in Manchester on March 22nd we were up against 12 other teams. By easily winning our pool matches we faced Boswells in the semi-final. Boswells had the advantage of using only 4 players whereas we had a constant change of team with our 6 player rotation. Despite a good fight we eventually lost to the eventual winners. This put us in a 3rd place play off against Newcastle. Within this match we played some really dominant volleyball to win in 3 sets and take 3rd place overall. On Saturday, March 28th we traveled to Birmingham to play in the Under 15 national finals. This is the championships we are targeting for success next year but it was important to qualify this year to see where we were. Our pool was tough with eventual winners Tameside and Boswells. After a shaky start against Tameside we raised our game to push Boswells really close. In the final match we were totally dominant and convincingly beat Mavericks from Wiltshire to finish 5th overall. Playing nearly every week-end has been tiring but looking back we have done really, really well. 3rd, 3rd and 5th at National level is a real achievement particularly as we are a young team. A young team with a great future. Well done girls we are very proud of your achievements. Squad for the Under 14s and 15s are Gabi De Rosa, Christina Watts, Jo Darby, Beth Foster, Emma Lees, Nikki Kaur, Sam Latham-Talbot and Amber Stewart. P.S. March was quite a successful month for Eddie Stobart spotting with over half a dozen spots. Eagle eyes and Tiger feet!! (Yes that was bad!)

Sender: Nick

3rd in England!!! Well done Girls you did us proud!

Our Under 16 Girls team narrowly lost in the semi-finals of the National Under 16 Championships at Nottingham yesterday. Placing us 3rd in England!! The team, a mixture of U16s and U14s, had played really well to qualify for the Last 8s but yesterday surpassed all expectations with a series of excellent performances. In our first match we came from a set down to beat Nunthorpe from the Tees-Valley area 2-1, A very dominant performance and 2-0 victory against Richmond from London set up the final pool match against last year's Under 16 Champions, Ashcombe from Kent. We played way above ourselves and narrowly lost meaning we would play old rivals Tameside in the semi-final. After a shaky start to the match we battled back and although losing the first set we dominated the majority of the second set. Tameside clawed us back to lead 24-23. At this point the ball appeared to land out of play to give us the serve and a score of 24-24. To our disbelief the referee judged the ball in and thus awarding the point and the match to Tameside. Sometimes sport is like that and despite appeals the result stood. Well done to Tameside and good luck in the final. However the real winners were our girls who were so good on the day. The standard of play and the ability to change positions and tactics was way beyond mine and Steve's expectations. Yesterday gave us great experience and confidence going into the Under 15 and 14 finals later this month and Under 16 and 18s next year. Once again girls....you were brilliant, well done!!! We are so proud of you, enjoy your achievements. Squad:- Rebecca Jones, Hannah Blake, Charlotte Johnson, Emma Lees, Gabi De Rosa, Amber Stewart, Christina Watts, Nikki Kaur and Sam Latham-Talbot

Sender: Nick Shaffery

CHAMPIONS AGAIN!!!

Saturday February 7th proved a very successful day for our Under 14 Girls who were crowned West Midlands Champions! Gabbi De Rosa, Christina Watts, Beth Foster, Sam Latham-Talbot, Nikki Kaur and Amber Stewart defeated Newcastle Staffs and Redhill Stourbridge in a very tight and hard fought three way final. With set points against them the girls held their nerves to win a place in the National Finals at the end of the month. Not only did the 'older' girls do well but we entered two of our younger teams who were competing against players four years older than themselves. The standard of their play was excellent and although results may not show at this stage all the players will look back on their first indoor tournament with a lot of pride. Well done to Emily Rogers, Chloe Roberts, Sophie Banks, Megan Topham, Akash Raj, Harry Morris, Sam Lloyd and Edward Watts. Well done to everyone and thank you to all the parents for your support. For a picture of the girls with their medals click here.

Sender: Nick

Through to the Last 8s of the Under 15 Girls!!!

Well done to our Under 15 Girls team who qualified for the Last 8s in March. Despite not reaching our true potential during the day we put together good pasages of play to gain second place. The eventual winners, Newcastle, were all but one in Year 10 and so our squad of youngsters have much to be proud of and build on. Well done Emma, Amber, Beth, Christina, Gabbi, Nikki andSam.

Sender: Nick

Congratulations!!!

Congratulations to our Under 16 girls squad who have qualified for the Last 8s! The girls played outstandingly well winning all three of the matches in their qualifying group on Saturday, January 17th 2009. In the first match we beat Marske from Tees Valley (North-East) 25-16, 25-13. The second match was against last year's Under 15 National Champions and Under 16 finalists, Newcastle. After a shaky first few points we went on to win 25- 17, 25-21. The final match against another North-East team, Aclam, with the result another 2-0 victory. Well done to our three Captains! Charlotte, Rebecca and Hannah and all the other stars Gabbi, Christina, Nikki, Sam, Jo and Emma. Well done girls....now the hard work really starts!!

Sender: Nick