A new-look junior country championship to be hosted by Volleyball Horsham will give more junior players the opportunity to participate in a major event.
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Volleyball Victoria has given Volleyball Horsham the green light to host the West Region Junior Country Championships on AFL grand final weekend in September.
The new look event will cater for boys' and girls' teams at Under 19, 17 and 15 levels and will be open to not just associations to enter, but also schools, academies and clubs in the state's western region.
Volleyball Victoria CEO Cori Wilder is excited at the opportunity for Volleyball Horsham to host the event.
"Volleyball Horsham has significant experience running volleyball tournaments and events, having most recently hosted the senior country championships in 2022 and their ongoing annual association tournament." Wilder said.
"The West Junior Country Championships seeks to engage under 19 volleyball participation from across the western regional areas of Victoria where often the remoteness of some schools and clubs mean they cannot attend Volleyball Victoria Schools Cups and state-based Junior Championships that occur centrally in Melbourne.
"The result is that these young players are limited by what is offered locally for their age groups or step into senior competition where their social and safety needs are different to a majority of participants."
Volleyball Horsham vice-president Matt McLoughlin can't wait for the opportunities that the event will offer for the region's volleyballers.
"By opening up the championships to schools and academies, Volleyball Horsham anticipates good support, especially from the schools in the immediate region, as they all support the local association so well." McLoughlin said.
"The championships will be a great opportunity for families and friends of our region's players to see just how far they have come and how they will stack up against other teams from around the west of the state."
McLoughlin is keen to see how school teams fare against association teams from other areas, especially given the representation both Holy Trinity Lutheran College and Horsham College have at the School Sport Victoria state finals this week.
"I know the HTLC intermediate girls' team is excited to play in Melbourne this week against what will be some pretty formidable metro opposition especially," McLoughlin said.
"But they will learn plenty and hopefully utilise those learnings going forward, with these championships the perfect opportunity."
Phantoms on a roll
Phantoms State League One men's team, featuring Volleyball Horsham's Tim Carter and Tyler Snowden, secured two important victories on the weekend to move into the top four of their pool at the halfway point of the season.
Snowden was particularly impressed by how well the boys came together as a team.
"For such a diverse range of players, the two wins emphasised just how well playing as a team contributes to results," Snowden said.
"When you have players coming from all over the place, like Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Horsham, it takes time to build connection, but this group is combining well together, and the good thing about it is we still have plenty of room for improvement going forward."
The focus will switch to the State League Two men's team for this week's round, with Volleyball Horsham players Jack Snowden, Noah Werry and Oscar Jackman fighting for a spot in the team.
