Grand Easter Volleyball Festival

Birmingham, (05/04/1980 - 06/04/1980)

All tournaments have set-backs and in 1 learned that the new Aston Villa Sports Centre was not going to be ready in time.

Three separate halls close to the centre of Birmingham were used for the event thanks to John Bowen, Recreation Officer of the University of Aston, to Woodcock Street Sports Centre and Barbara Thomas, Vice-Principal of the Birmingham Athletic Institute.

Teams were based at the Grand Metropolitan, a marvellous hotel, conveniently situated in the city centre and within walking distance of the three halls. There were 14 men's teams, including entries from Norway, Luxembourg, Wales Scotland and England. The teams were pooled as follows

Woodcock Street
  1. Blokk 75
  2. Birmingham
  3. Abergavenny
  4. Standard Wiltz
  5. Oxfordshire
Aston University
  1. Riga
  2. Oygard
  3. Forest Hill
  4. Fife Thames
  5. HMS Centurion
B.A.I.
  1. Telford
  2. Pontypool
  3. Weymouth
  4. Hemel Hempstead

Pool matches were played best of two sets, with points difference counting in the event of a tie. The top two teams in each pool went through to Woodcock Street on the Sunday to play for positions 1-6, while the other teams played for positions 7-14 at Aston University.

All Sunday matches were best of 3 sets and every team played a minimum of 5 matches and a maximum of 8 over the two days. One of the most encouraging aspects of the tournament was the performance of the two Welsh teams, Pontypool and Abergavenny who impressed with their teamwork, enthusiasm and exhibition of how to do the simple things well. Only two teams at the tournament indulged in any combination play - Blokk 75 and Telford.

Blokk 75 beat Pontypool and Oygard beat Birmingham to move into the semi-finals. The much-fancied Telford team were not at their best and were beaten by Blokk 15-8, 15-9. The experience and ability of Kenny Barton and Jim Cowper could not save Telford, although Brian 'Foggy' Fogarty of Blokk, aggravated a leg injury during this match. In the other semi-final, Riga showed a great deal of calm and experience in beating the big Norwegian hitters of Oygard with some good blocking.

Riga again played steadily throughout the final, setting the ball high and wide to position 4 where the Blokk players did not have the height to cope with tall, experienced hitters. In the match for third and fourth, Oygard beat Telford 2-1, taking the last set 15-1.

The tournament was rounded off with a presentation dinner at the Grand Metropolitan Hotel. The trophies and medals were presented by Colin Ridstone of G.M.H. It is not for me to say whether the 1st Grand Easter Volleyball Festival was a success; 1 certainly hope so, and it seemed that all of the teams involved enjoyed themselves socially and competitively. This new concept for a tournament will be repeated again next year at the Grand Hotel, Birmingham over the Easter weekend. My thanks to Liz Banks and Grand Metropolitan Hotels for making the tournament possible and also to Jacky Barrett, Malcolm and Jenny Taylor and Barbara Thomas for their help and support. Make a note in your diary now for next year when we hope to make this a men's and women's tournament.

Final Positions:
  1. Riga
  2. Blokk 75
  3. Oygard
  4. Telford
  5. Pontypool
  6. Birmingham
  7. Forest Hill
  8. Abergavenny
  9. Standard Wiltz
  10. Fife Thames
  11. Hemel Hempstead
  12. Weymouth Bay Rowdies
  13. HMS Centurion
  14. 14. Oxfordshire

 
Blokk 75 and Riga (Mike Darwin, Martin Warman, Jaswir Singh, Dave Wylie, Dave Nason, John Boughton and ?) players with officials Richard Callicott and Malcolm Talyor

Richard Callicott (reprinted from Volleyball magazine)