Inter Regional Championships 2009
The 2009 Inter Regional Championships saw over 450 junior athletes across the country descend on Loughborough for two days of intense volleyball competition across 4 age groups U14 and U16 for girls and U15 and U17 for boys.
This year’s championship included a new and exciting Master Class run by the GB Women's squad. A lot of the young players took up this rare opportunity and over 3 hours the class saw over 150 keen and talented young volleyballer’s take to the court with numerous members of the Great Britain Programme.
For the second year running the Inter Regional Championships was held in the East Midlands, this year using the sports facilities at Loughborough University (u16 girls & u17 boys), Charnwood Leisure Centre (u15 boys) and Limehurst High School (u14 girls). The Championships offer players and coaches a fantastic experience increasing the confidence of both under tournament conditions.
The competition ran smoothly under the guidance of Matt Rogers (Event Manager) supported by Volleyball England office staff and volunteers from Loughborough University and Loughborough Lions. A welcome initiative this year was the introduction of appointed first and second referees, this gave coaches more time to prepare and support their teams.
Lauren Bell-Brown, one of the players from the Under 16 East Midlands teams attended the session and said:
" I am delighted with the event and was pleased to see our young junior athletes able to focus on the volleyball competition and thank all that were involved for their efforts and contribution in allowing them to do this."
The two days of competition was a fantastic event to showcase the level of play of our junior players across the country. The East Midlnads squads performed extremely well in a mature and professional manor. The 2009 championships saw our best ratings as a regional in recent years with the U15 Boys finishing in an amazing 4th place, so congratulations to all that competed.
The Inter-Regionals Event Manager, Matt Rogers commented " I am delighted with the event and was pleased to see our young junior athletes able to focus on the volleyball competition and thank all that were involved for their efforts and contribution in allowing them to do this."
Throughout the championships out young players were scouted and analysed by our skilled team of divisional coaches. The top players from these Championships where invited to train and some chosen to represent one of the three England teams that competed at this years UK School Games in Cardiff.
2009 Squads
East Midlands Coaching Staff:
Under 14 Girls Coaches - Rebecca Saunders and Suzy Stevenson
Under 15 Boys Coach - Naz Sutton, Assistant Coach - Donna Lill
Under 16 Girls Coach - Alex Mulligan, Assistant Coach - Bruce Jennings
Under 17 Boys Coach - Howard Tomlinson, Assistant Coach - Paul Lamb
Results
Under 17 Boys
1st South West
2nd London
3rd East
4th North East
5th South East
6th North West
7th West Midlands
8th Northern Ireland
9th East Midlands
10th Yorkshire
Under 16 Girls
1st South West
2nd West Midlands
3rd North East
4th East
5th South East
6th North West
7th Northern Ireland
8th East Midlands
9th London
10th Yorkshire
Under 15 Boys
1st South West
2nd East
3rd West Midlands
4th East Midlands
5th London
6th South East
7th Wales
8th Yorkshire
9th North West
10th North East
Under 14 Girls
1st West Midlands
2nd North West
3rd Yorkshire
4th South East
5th North East
6th South West
7th London
8th Wales
9th East
10th East Midlands
Inter Regional Quiz
The 2009 Inter-Regional quiz had some very interesting results, but this year’s winners where from the East Midlands region- David and Adam Lagerberg. Congratulations to them both, they both received tickets to the European League and a signed Volleyball England Volunteer T-shirt by the British Volleyball players.
