(21/09/2000)
The Riga volleyball club start this season’s campaign at the weekend attempting to build on last term’s outstanding success. The club’s trophy haul was its most impressive yet, with national and international success being added to regional and local awards.
The Men’s Birmingham & District side are the first into combat on Friday evening as they defend their Championship title with a visit to Hillcrest, Dudley. Coach Chris Nason is optimistic of a repeat performance, although without last season’s nail-biting five set title decider. It was our first time in the B & D last year and we didn’t always play to our potential. We took the title thanks to a nice blend of youth and experience. Everyone will be out to get us now and it’ll be a lot tougher but I’m sure we’ll be up there come the end.
The Men’s First team open their National League Division One account on Saturday with a visit to London to play Polonia. The side finished a disappointing eighth last season but took pride in their first ever national trophy win with the Shield victory over Liverpool. This has been followed up with victories in the Jersey Open and at Kildrecht, Belgium. We’ve got the ability and potential to be a top four team, opines skipper Tom Young. Our coach has spent time pre-season changing our shape and style of play and I’m looking forward to this season very much. I think we’ll go places this year.
Polonia will be an interesting challenge for that assertion. The Londoners have rarely finished outside the top four themselves and always play a tight controlled game. Whilst early season matches can belie a team’s eventual fortunes, victory for Riga will put them on course for their aspirations. On the team front, Riga will be without two of their key players. Pete Abraham is injured and will not be available until early October, whilst Nigel Malone has exam commitments. With the fuel dispute also disrupting final preparations, a Riga victory will be all the more to savour.
Riga’s women’s teams do not start their seasons until October. The National League Division Two side will be looking to build on their eighth place of last season. However their challenge will be even tougher due to the departures of captain Lynette Purkis and centre hitter Amanda Squires. Both players have left the area and leave the team close to empty. New coach Paul Sutton remains convinced his girls will still survive. We’ve got a good core of players still. This year will be harder but we could have finished just outside the top four last time, so I’ll be happy with a mid-table finish this time around.
The second Women’s team, having won the Birmingham & District title at the first attempt are now trying their hand at the National League in Division Three. Secretary Ruth Hosking is relishing the prospect of the higher standard. Last season the quality of game went from one extreme to the other. This year it will be more consistent and challenging for us. We want to carry the enjoyment we got from winning the title through to the National League - and who knows we could win it!
Finally Riga’s financial fortunes were given a boost with a grant of £5,000 from Sport England via the Millennium Festival Awards for All Committee. The grant covers equipment, junior and club development and will enable the club to hold the first of a series of open sessions for people of any age to experience volleyball at the St. Nicholas Park Leisure Centre, Warwick on Saturday 30th September (3.30pm). Anyone interested should contact John Boughton on 024-7640-2194 for further details.