A total of 42 teams from different schools in Scotland took part in the Irvine schools festival on Thursday.
It was a very colourful affair, with a number of teams in the purple of Marr College, along with Grange Academy in blue, Belmont Academy in red, Stonelaw in black, Stewarton Academy in yellow and Duncanrig in white.
The setting was great, with the perfect venue run by Mrs Reid and her army of volunteers, who were in charge of each court from Marr College.
There was some great volleyball on display from the young pupils and, for those who were at the Edinburgh festival a few months ago, there was some clear team development and improvement on show, as the three touch game was displayed with an impressive level of control.
With this being the first competition for a few schools, it was great to see such a level of enthusiasm, and it will be great to see the same kids next year at the S2/3 circuit.
The top three teams in the top two pools were all awarded with
medals. Congratulations go to Duncanrig who won the gold pool, and to Kyle Aademy boys who are this years boys Irvine S1 champions.
In the girls competition, it was Marr College, with mentoring from their more senior pupils, who won the gold pool, and Belmont Academy who are Irvine schools festival champions for 2013.
The ‘Spirit of the Tournament’ awards were greatly deserved, and were awarded to individuals from Ayrshire schools, Grange Academy and Stewarton Academy.
There were lots of awards to give out, and these were presented by Depute head teacher Mr McLean and head teacher Mrs McGregor-Sloman, who also gave an inspiring short speech on the benefits of the competition.
A Huge thank you is owed to Marr College, and to Mrs Reid and her staff in particular, for running the festival and their continued support for Scottish Volleyball.
Even though this was the last of the national schools festival competitions, we still have the Volley-all festival in Edinburgh, on 7th June for P5-S3. For more info please email.
Graeme Spowart
Club and Participation Development Officer