Five Vic Beach Volleyball Academy (VBVA) players returned from a weekend training and playing with and against the best U17 players in the country last weekend; all ready to show State selectors what they learned, at Victorian Team trials this weekend.

Lauren, Zeb, Laura, Linus and Blake were invited to attend a camp designed to find the best players in the country, who will represent Australia at the Asian U17s Championships in March and World Juniors to be held in Brazil in July 2016.

Over the course of three days, the kids trained and competed in tournaments in the hope of impressing the selectors enough to grab one of a small number of available spots to Asia and Brazil.

We’ll know by next week; good luck to all five players.

It was only their second tournament, and they had won their first set! They came close in the first round of the 2015/16 Vic Beach Volleyball Series, a near miss that was to start a list of achievable goals for the rest of the season.

“It was so much fun! We won our first set, first match, made our first final… And won it! All in a single tournament; we are so happy right now…”

Another set in the bank and a first ever match win was ticked off that list of goals as quickly as ‘win first set’.

Lucia and Gabby stepped on court for their second game; confident and relaxed… they had little to lose, given the goals already managed for the day. They did however have a lot to gain; a second win and almost certain passage through to the B Division finals.

That final came, almost immediately following their first loss for the day… but they would have a second chance against the team that beat them in pool play.

They were down early, but came back strong… Set one won, set two won… B division champions for round two!

“It was so much fun! We won our first set, first match, made our first final… And won it! All in a single tournament; we are so happy right now,” said Lucia, as she waved around a great big handful of prize money.

“We are like soooooo happy right now!” Added Gabby.

Congratulations girls!

LEARN TO PLAY BEACH VOLLEYBALL!

Vic Beach Volleyball Academy (VBVA) is expanding! It will mean more coaches, more courts and more sessions.

Being the only junior academy in Melbourne dedicated solely to beach volleyball, we’ve been inundated with kids and parents keen to find out how to get involved, so…

We will be holding FREE introductory beginner group coaching sessions for kids ranging from 10 – 14 years of age.

If you’re interested in pursuing beach volleyball as a sport, then the VBVA is for you! We cater to all levels, from beginners to Australian representatives, and training is year round.

Parents! If you’re looking for a non-contact sport that is fun and only competitive if your child wants it to be… get your kids on the sand.

Where:

South Melbourne Beach (Opp. Victoria Street)

When:

Saturday 7th November 1:30pm – 3:30pm OR

Sunday 8th November 10am -12pm

Register:

info@vbva.com.au

All you need to bring is a sunhat/cap, drink bottle and sunscreen.

For any kids who have been playing Indoor volleyball and want to get on the sand, we currently have training groups on a Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday which will cater to your level.

If you’re interested in continuing beyond the trial weekend, or you want to get involved now, contact Bam on 0422 978 870 or bam@vbva.com.au.

VBVA runs a ‘Pay As You Go’ system ($15 per session), and rewards regulars with ongoing free or inexpensive merchandise, thanks to our major sponsor Beachcomber Cafe.

The warmer months have arrived, as has the new schedule of training.

If you’re unsure what level you are, feel free to email me or ask after training. Any new peeps wanting to get involved, send through an email and we’ll work out which group best suits you.

Tuesday

[Tier 3] 4:30pm – 6pm

Below is a link to the MBVA (Melbourne Beaches Volleyball Association) online registration form.

All VBVA peeps need to be members to be insured during training. If you’re not yet planning to play in tournaments, you’ll only need to get the $10 ‘Social’ membership. If you’re going to be playing in events, get the junior membership… which I think is $25.

If you have any questions about membership, let me know and – being a board member – I should be able to answer your questions.

Here’s the link:

MBVA / Sporting Pulse registration

It’s Going to be a Big Summer!

Here is a list of tournaments in Victoria throughout the season. The

If you’re first (tournament) timers and have any questions, send through an email or ask after training.

NB: Frequently Asked Questions can be found here

As of October 2015, the following structure of the VBVA will come into place:

VBVA Elite Squad

Invitations will be sent to the best current Tier 1 juniors with limited application acceptance for the remaining spaces. A minimum two training sessions will be held weekly, as well as ‘own time’ gym visits and a monthly one-on-one technique specific session. The program will focus on all facets of development and team building; from off and on-season physical and mental preparation, to game strategy, sponsorship acquisition and courtside tournament coaching. This squad will run in quarterly blocks. Elite squad status will be removed if a player is not meeting the minimum requirement across each quarterly block.

Tier One

Tier One will train alongside Elite Squad players. Spaces will be limited, and filled by current Tier One players who were not granted Elite status, as well as transitional Tier Two players and state level players looking to join the VBVA. Limited Invitations will be offered to high level athletes switching sports. There will be two trainings per week, with all participants expected to make at least one session per week. The program will focus on technique, game play, court awareness and mental preparation. Tier One will also run in quarterly blocks, and will have male and female specific groups.

Tier Two

Will be open attendance, and focus on beginner and intermediate level juniors. There will be one weekend training session per week, with a possible midweek session added if numbers allow. Tier Two will focus on technique and game play.

The VBVA has and continues to be supported by Vic Beach and the Melbourne Beaches Volleyball Association (MBVA).

For more information and expressions of interest please email info@vbva.com.au or contact Bam on 0422 978 870, or at bam@vbva.com.au.

Here is the schedule for the Easter Holidays and ongoing throughout Winter.

Winter training will cost $15 for the first session, $10 for the second – if you come along on both a Saturday and Sunday in the week you’ll pay a total $25 for the two sessions. The Easter schedule will work with the current pay system; the more you come each week the less each session costs.

If you have any queries please email bam@vbva.com.au

SAT 28TH MARCH
[Tier 1] 8:30am – 10am | [Tier 2] 10am – 11:30am | [Tier 3] 1pm – 2:30pm

TUE 31ST MARCH
[Tier 1] 3pm – 4:30pm | [Tier 2] 4:30pm – 6pm

THU 31ST MARCH
[Tier 1] 3pm – 4:30pm | [Tier 2] 4:30pm – 6pm

SAT 4TH APRIL (EASTER SATURDAY)
[Tier 1] 8:30am – 10am | [Tier 2] 10am – 11:30am | [Tier 3] 1pm – 2:30pm

TUE 7TH APRIL
10am – 1pm – 3 HOUR STATE TEAM PREPARATION TRAINING*
* NB: This is pairs specific training. It’ll cost $25 for VBVA regulars and $30 for NON-VBVA regulars. State representation is not a requirement; if you have a regular partner you can come down.

WED 8TH APRIL
[Tier 1] 10am – 11:30am | [Tier 2] 11:30am – 1pm | [Tier 3] 1pm – 2:30pm

WINTER TIMES COMMENCE FROM HERE…

SAT 11TH APRIL
[Tier 1] 8:30am – 10am | [Tier 2] 10am – 11:30am | [Tier 3] 1pm – 2:30pm

SUN 12TH APRIL
[Tier 1] 9am – 10:30am | [Tier 2] 10:30am – 12pm | [Tier 3 + WW beginners] 12pm – 1:30pm

The above ‘Winter’ times will continue throughout Autumn, Winter and early Spring.

About 4cm… that was the difference between winning and losing the Women’s AA title for round 6 of the Vic Beach State tour.

In what was her first ever foray into the women’s AA division, Beatriz De Freitas and partner Kaidi Roosimagi made it through the entire day undefeated… but for those 4cm.

“Bea took the step up into AA and proved not only to the crowd watching, but to herself, that she has a big future on the beach…”

Fifteen teams were competing in what was clearly the toughest round of the season to date, and of all the pools, Bea and Kaidi’s was the most talent-stacked. They had fellow VBVA Tier One crew members and State U23 representatives Eleri and Louise, current U17s Australian champ Carrie and eventual winners American pair Ally Henthorn and Lauren Klinkhamer.

Bea and Kaidi only just scraped through against the Americans in the pool round; beating them in three. That result coupled with two further straight set wins saw them take on Koutsoukis and Kuklych in the quarters; winning that in three sets.

They had to do it the hard way in their semi-final too, coming from a set down to defeat international pair Albertson and Hejretova in three. The effort put into the semi rewarded them with a chance to replicate their result against the Americans from the pool round.

It was tight, but Ally and Lauren pulled out the win, reversing the pool round score and winning a close third set… with a serve – out by a few cm – ending it.

“Bea took the step up into AA and proved not only to the crowd watching, but to herself, that she has a big future on the beach,” said VBVA Head coach Brett Middlin.

“To make a AA final first time out, against such strong, open age opposition and get so close to winning… that is a fantastic achievement for a 16-year-old.”

When interviewed after the tournament, Bea was delighted: “Initially I was a little down having lost what was such a close final, but a few minutes of reflection and it’s easily the best feeling I’ve had in the sport to date. I am so happy with the result, and hopefully it can be a springboard to achieving my goals for the remainder of the season!”

Congratulations Bea!

Thanks to VBVA key sponsor Beachcomber Cafe, we have a whole stack of new long and short sleeve tee’s, singlets and caps to keep you all clothed and representing!

As with last year, the more you train the more you get. Tee’s are ready to go, caps should arrive in time for the Vic Open weekend.

We’re also looking at the possibility of subsidising bags and jumpers; if you’re interested let me know. More to follow on that.