Last weekend, Nottingham Rockets hosted another tournament, this time for juniors. There were two categories: Under-14s and Under-17s.
Athena took four teams: two for each category. Because most of the Athena players had only started playing this summer and they were up against mixed teams, Coach Paul had been playing down expectations amongst his very excited squad. He knew they would be playing against some very experienced players. Under-17s In the Under-17 category, both teams decided to ignore the coach's view that they would get beaten and won their opening matches. They did that by working incredibly hard, supporting each other and serving well. For both teams, this was their first ever taste of playing 6v6 competitive volleyball and their first chance to try out playing a 6-2 rotation in a match ... but none of that phased them as they showed great tenacity and skill. As the day wore on, they played teams such as Darkstar and Riga who were clearly much more experienced and extremely well coached. Their power and skill level showed the Athena teams the level they have to get to and acted as an inspiration ... although I am not sure the players were feeling that inspired as they were getting beaten. By the end of the day, Athena 1 finished 6th and Athena 2 finished 9th out of 9 ... but that doesn't matter. What mattered was these girls grew. They bonded together, they had a fabulous time and they will learn so much from the experience. Under-14s The Under-14s played 4v4 volleyball on half courts. Both teams started nervously and lost a couple of matches. But once they calmed down and remembered that this was the same as training, that they could volley and dig and serve, they started to put in some really impressive performances. Darkstar were miles better than any other team in the Under-14s, but Athena 1 and 2 came out second and third out of 6 teams. Athena 1 were the youngest team by far, Athena 2 had some very inexperienced players, but they showed real grit. Thank yous Firstly, a huge thank you to Bryan from Nottingham Rockets for organsing the tournament. Managing 15 teams acors two competitions is no mean feat and he deserved his evening beers. And a big thank you to the parents who came along to support and help, including Christine, Kavita and to Kathy who coached Athena 2 under-14s all day long. Your time and enthusiasm was very much appreciated.
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