CEV Supervisor Margaret Ann Fleming presided over the technical meeting before the matches in Small Countries Division Pool A of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women, as Scotland prepares to host in Perth a CEV senior event for the first time in eight years.
Fleming, also CEV Board of Administration member, SCD President and chief executive of the Scottish Volleyball Association, thanked the five nations attending – Cyprus, Malta, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Scotland.
“Scotland has two main cities, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and for us to take an event an hour away in Perth is pretty significant,” she said. “I would like to thank all the people who have made this possible – the CEV, Perth and Kinross Council, Live Active and the Scottish Volleyball Association. I would like to particularly thank Event Director Martyn Johnstone and Assistant Director Graeme Spowart who have been particularly stretched over the last few weeks and months.”
Melissa Coutts, president of the Scottish Volleyball Association, echoed: “We are delighted to have all the countries here as well as the officials from Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Malta, France and Cyprus. We hope you enjoy your stay.”
Malta faces Cyprus in the opening match on Friday afternoon and has two matches on the opening day, also taking on host Scotland in the evening. Also on Friday, Ireland faces Northern Ireland.
Scotland’s Great Britain Olympic captain Lynne Beattie is looking forward to the weekend and particularly the clash with Northern Ireland on Saturday. “I will be competing against a fellow Team Northumbria player, Alice Harkness, Northern Ireland’s libero and one to watch,” she explained. “There has been copious amounts of banter flowing about facing each other through the net, so this will add an exciting dimension to that match.”