VOLLEYBALL players from across Victoria and interstate will honour one of the region’s star players at the Horsham Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night.
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Harry’s Match will honour Harry Denson, who died in August.
Teammates from Mr Denson’s former high school volleyball team will face his younger brother Jack’s high school team for the match, to celebrate Mr Denson’s life.
The match will also raise money for beyondblue.
Mr Denson’s former teammate Matthew Berry is among the event organisers, and said he was looking forward to celebrating his friend’s life with his former Horsham College teammates.
“We just want to bring as many of our close friends, family and community members together to celebrate Harry’s life and his contribution to volleyball in the area,” Berry said.
Mr Denson was a star high school volleyball player, a member of the Vic Gold Under 19 boys’ team and a Country Championships representative. His former teammates will travel to Horsham from across the state.
“There are a lot of guys who have moved on and moved away, but still call Horsham home,” Berry said.
“It will be good for them to be there on the weekend, to see how far volleyball has come in the area and remember some of the good old times we had playing the sport.”
Berry said there would be a presentation at 7.30pm on Saturday prior to the match, where Mr Denson’s framed volleyball shirts would be presented to his family.
“There’s a lot of mental health problems in rural areas, and this is another platform to spread the message and show how important it is for everyone, not just men, to talk about their issues because people do care,” Berry said. “That’s what we want to show on Saturday night – just how many people do care.”
Berry hopes Harry’s Match becomes an annual event, and that its inaugural edition on Saturday will generate a lot of support.
“It will be a big event,” Berry said. “I don’t think I’ve played in front of a crowd as big as what we should have. I think it’s going to be too big for the basketball stadium.
“We honestly didn’t know what we were going to come up with. But by the sounds of it, it will be the biggest crowd we’ve seen in a long time.”
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