Traditionally this festival takes place at the Magnum Sports Centre in Irvine and is brilliantly run by Jess Reid and Marr College, however the centre’s frustrating decision to transform the indoor sports hall into 4G grass for football meant a switch to Wishaw.
The festival saw the outcome of a year long effort from the teachers to recruit, train and organise a volleyball programme for their new S1 pupils in their first year at High School.
This festival saw a new school step into the MACvolley festival programme. Castle Douglas High School from Dumfries and Galloway got their first experience of the benefits of festival play.
Despite a road traffic accident affecting a few schools journeys, the draw was amended to allow the festival to start on time. The players took no time at all to express themselves, as from the first klaxon the atmosphere around all 10 volleyball courts was great.
The Spirit of the tournament awards were giving to two
individuals that gave their all for their team-mates, took well to their officiating duties, always had a smile on their face, and definitely made an effort to improve their volleyball throughout the day.
The girl’s award went to Gillian Scott from Kyle Academy and the boy’s award went to John Jardine of Castle Douglas High School.
The girls division saw a dominant performance from Marr College and Kyle Academy as they were the only schools to make up the top pool. Marr College A ended up winning the girls event.
The boys section was a lot more even, as teams from Stonelaw, Marr College and Kyle Academy all battled it out with Kyle Academy A coming out as the winners.
The impressive part of the festival wasn’t so much in the top pools however; it was the improvement in the play from the lower pools. For the majority of teams this was their first experience of game play and the improvement and positivity towards competition and general volleyball skills from the morning pools to the afternoon pools was significant.
Many Thanks to Martyn Johnstone for his great assistance with the festival and general support during the course of the whole MACvolley programme this past year.
There are a few more events before these kids take to the sand for the School Beach Volleyball Festivals on the 1st June. The main one is again alongside our partners at Wishaw Sports Centre for the Scottish Volleyball Association Finals weekend. The finals will take place on 26th & 27th April.
Graeme Spowart
Club & Participation Development Officer
Scottish Volleyball Association
