Current Newsletter

Plymouth Marjon Adventure

On the  4th October 2009, University College Plymouth St Mark & St John (UCP Marjon) in collaboration with Plymouth City Council, 29 Commando Regiment and The National Trust will be launching the first Plymouth Marjon Adventure Day or (MAD). Please see http://www.marjon.ac.uk/plymouthmad/

 The course will include cycling, orienteering, running, abseiling and wall climbing.

Open to juniors and adults, the main aim of this adventure race is to have fun and enjoy the beautiful surroundings that Plymouth has to offer. 

Issue 4: October 2008

Hello Volleyball Players all!

Well it’s so long to the beach for another year and hello to the joys of the indoor season. I race road bikes and the season is from March to October time; it’s great I have a wonderful four or five months off before it all starts again. But don’t worry guys, we’re not going into hibernation, in fact events are on the increase now that it shouldn’t be showering down on us at the sports halls at North Devon College or Chivenor. There are plenty of training sessions, courses, fixtures coming up and this should keep you updated with the lot of it, including the possibility of a special guest speaker coming along (but more about that later).

Cool, here we go then with the next Academy of Beach Sports Newsletter.

Enjoy.

Ed Wright
Academy Press Officer

South West Junior Beach Championships

On August 17th the South West Volleyball Association that is run by a familiar face to all of us – our own Denise Austin – organised the SWJB Championships, which was held in Exmouth. The Academy was represented by Jack Walker and Ashley Yeo who were taking part in the U18 tournament and Yvette and Sophie taking part in the U18 girls’ tournament. There was fierce competition for both pairs with Yvette and Sophie being up against, Wessex pair of Kate Pierce and Lauren Powell who eventually went on to win the U18 girls’ competition.

Ashley and Jack were really up against it with England Men’s libero Daniel Hunter pairing up with Ryan Henry presenting a huge challenge for the guys. However, not only did Jack and Ashley manage to get through to the final, they then went on to defeat Daniel and Ryan in the final in three sets.

Our U14 and U12 teams also did a terrific job. In the U12 boys’ category the Academy had a one – two at the top with Sam Dunbavin, Will Hartnoll and Taylor Latham coming out on top against Jo Wright, Finn Begley and Will Evans. Elsewhere, the quartet of Amelia Richards, Ellen Blandford, Danielle Spencer and Emily Tucker did a tremendous job to take third place in the U14 girls’ competition.

Well done to all you guys who did a great job over in Exmouth.

For more information about the South West Beach Volleyball Association go to http://www.swva.org.uk/beach/index.html.

Windfest Junior Beach Invitational

Ashley Yeo and Jack Walker were in action again, having won the South West Championships they were then invited to the WJB invitational where some of the best junior beach volleyball players in the country were taking part. The competition was once again very fierce but in the group stages Jack and Ash won all their matches including against the Great Britain U18 Boys team of Tristan Dampney and Oli Kimber. Tristan had come fresh from the World Under-21 Beach Volleyball Championships in Brighton!

However, in a very tight final, the scores were reversed with Jack and Ash being pipped in another three set thriller to the GB pairing who’d made it into the final also. Well done again to Ashley and Jack.

Volleyball England Beach Tour Triple crown

The Volleyball England Beach Tour Triple Crown was won by head coach of the Academy of Beach Sports Denise Austin. Having finished 3rd in Weymouth, 3rd in Sandbanks and 1st in Great Yarmouth at the three Grand Slam events earned her enough points and a new pair of Arnette Sunglasses (www.arnette.com).

Denise and her partner Mel Coutts also finished 3rd at the Volleyball England National Finals only finishing behind the British Volleyball Federation Teams of Shauna Mullin and Denise Johns and Lucy Boulton and Zara Dampney, all four of whom Denise Has coached, Zara and Lucy no 22 since they were 15.

Denise Austin and Mel Coutts won the final leg of the Dodge Urban Beach Tour in Cardiff, watch out for late night screening on Channel 4 (http://www.channel4.com/video/brandless-catchup.jsp?vodBrand=dodge-urban-beach-tour-2008).

And Finally Denise Austin reached her 100+ cap for GBR and ENG while playing in the European Tour in Blackpool, narrowly missing out to Estonia in the qualifying rounds.

Hoodies

They’re still going strong guys; I’ve got mine and I think they’re pretty cool. If you would like to purchase a hoodie then please let Denise know as soon as possible by emailing her at denise@beachvolleyballinc.com with the size and the colour that you’d like it. They are still £20 and they’re payable on collection.

Refereeing course

As part of our journey to achieving Volley 1 status we need to have qualified referees and to make that happen Ruth Lovell has set up a refereeing course that will be run on the 11th-12th October from 8.30-5.00pm on the Saturday and 8.30-4.00pm on the Sunday. If you would like any information regarding the course then please contact Ruth Lovell at Ruth.Lovell@ndevon.ac.uk. The course will cost £30 including £5 for the study pack.

North Devon Volleyball Calendar

The calendar for the coming season has all the training, league and competition events can be found at the below web link

http://www.beachvolleyballinc.com/NDVAcalendar2007-8.html

It has been a great start to the season with the start of the U14’s (Yr 9 and below) league on Saturday morning at the North Devon College. Volunteers are still required to help with assisting the league please see Ruth or email her if you can help out with on Saturday every other month rlovell@ndevon.ac.uk

SPORTING CHAMPIONS VISIT

A request for a sporting champion to attend the U14’s league as part of the Sport England Extending Activites has been made so we might have a visit from England and Great Britain athletes on the 29th Nov and the 31st Jan.

These two dates are when the North Devon League is holding a SWVA satellite event and points will go towards the SWVA Grand Prix not the North Devon League.

SWVA Junior Indoor Grand Prix

http://www.swva.org.uk/junior-calendar.jsp

On these Saturdays there may not be a North Devon College League Dates please check calendar for updates.

Dates for your diary are:

Sat 18th Oct Melksham

Sat 15th Nov Burnham on Sea

Sat 29th Nov North Devon College (Satelite)

Sat 13th Dec Weston Super Mare

Sat 10th January South West Junior Championships (6-a-side)

Sat 31st Jan North Devon College (Satelite)

Sat 21st March South West Mini Volleyball Championships Wellington (3-a-side)(Qualification for national finals)