The tournament, which took place in Sandwell, West Midlands brought together over 150 young people from across the Premier League clubs.
The event gave the young people an opportunity to showcase their volleyball skills in friendly competitions against other clubs connected with Premier League 4 Sport. For some, this was their first competition.
Volleyball is the first of the four sports involved in the project to stage a national tournament, which was supported by Sportsmatch (Sport England) and the Premier League 4 Sport project.
The Under-14 teams involved were: Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa, Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion, Stoke City, West Ham United, Wigan Athletic, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester United and Manchester City.
huge hit
The day commenced with a mass warm-up for all the participants which was run by Volleyball England’s National Development Manager Cathy Rooney. This was followed by the competition, involving 11 girls’ teams and 16 boys’ teams. The first matches were in pool stages allowing the strongest teams to progress through to play-off matches to win their chance of playing in the final.
The final for the girls was between Tottenham and the Wigan ‘A’ team. Wigan won the final in two straight sets. In the boys’ competition Blackburn, who had only been playing for a couple of weeks overcame Fulham’s strong ‘B’ team to win the final.
The tournament was supported by 20 young leaders who were instrumental in the smooth running of the event, refereeing all of the matches. The tournament also saw the appearance of Volleyball England’s ‘Bouncy Volleyball court’ for the first time which proved a huge hit with the young people.
raw talent
Medals were presented to the winners and runners-up for both competitions by Siobhan Atkinson (Premier League Community Development Executive) and Lisa Wainwright (Volleyball England’s Chief Executive Officer).
Wainwright commented: “The inaugural Premier League 4 Sport National Volleyball Tournament was a phenomenal success with young people enjoying the festival atmosphere under the blazing Sandwell sun.
“Some great raw talent was on show, particularly in the girls’ section and the finals proved a great end to such an enjoyable day for the coaches, event co-ordinators and players alike.”
young people
Atkinson added: “The young people had a great experience at the tournament, the feel and vibe of the event was excellent and pitched at exactly the right level for all involved.
“It was fantastic for Blackburn Rovers Community Trust to win the boys’ event, particularly when they have only been training for a short number of weeks – it clearly shows what can be achieved. Wigan Athletic Community Trust were also delighted to win the girls’ section and displayed some real high level tactics in their play.
“The Premier League looks forward to taking the PL4S programme further and encouraging more young people to take up the sport of volleyball.”
Check EPLTable.com to see photos from the tournament
Finishing positions
Girls
1st Wigan Athletic (A Team)
2nd Tottenham Hotspur
3rd Manchester United
4th West Bromwich
5th Arsenal (A Team)
6th Wigan Athletic (B Team)
7th Blackburn Rovers
8th West Ham
9th Stoke City (A Team)
10th Stoke City (B Team)
11th Arsenal (B Team)
Boys
1st Blackburn Rovers A
2nd Fulham (B Team)
3rd Fulham (A Team)
4th Tottenham Hotspur
5th Wigan Athletic (A Team)
6th Stoke City (A Team)
7th Arsenal
8th Wigan Athletic (B Team)
9th Blackburn Rovers (B Team)
10th Manchester City (A Team)
11th Manchester City (B Team)
12th Stoke City (B Team)
13th West Bromwich
14th Aston Villa (A Team)
15th West Ham
16th Aston Villa (B Team)
“The Premier League looks forward to taking the PL4S programme further” – Siobhan Atkinson
Credits: PremierLeague.com
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