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Australian
beach volleyballers serve it up on Tobruk. |
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Photo:
ABPH Nina Nikolin |
By
Graham Davis
Normally the Navy’s 5,800 tonne heavy landing ship HMAS
Tobruk (CMDR Nick Bramwell) goes up on to the beach.
The other day the beach came to Tobruk.
Members of the Army detachment on board craned five pallets of
bagged sand supplied by the State Emergency Service to the vehicle
deck and formed it into a large sandpit.
The pit then became a court for the launch of the 2004 - 2005
Vodaphone Volleyball Tour Seas.
Launching the tour on Tobruk was seen as a fitting tribute to
the courageous efforts of Australia’s beach volleyball players
at the Athen’s Games (Natalie Cook played a semi final using
just one arm.
The rotator cuff in the other had failed), and to those who serve
in the warship.
A number of Athens Olympians and lead-ing Australian players attended
the launch on Tobruk including Kerri Pottharst, Natalie Cook,
Julien Prosser and Michael Croxford.
They were joined by two visiting US players.
Many of the players then took to the court for a friendly match.
Four members of Tobruk’s ship’s company, dressed in
their green and gold strips, LSBM Chris Hodgkinson (6), ABCSO
David Norena (4), POPT Dion McCrabb (5) and CPOBM
Boris Kormany (2), joined in.
The skills of all players was such that only once during an hour’s
play did the ball go over the side and into the water.
An earlier plan to have the ball in a net and on a string, was
quickly quashed.
As Natalie Cook told the ship’s company, the visiting players
and a large media contin-gent, “We can take sand volleyball
anywhere.”
The first round of the tour was scheduled for Manly beach from
November 19 to 21.
Round 2 will be at St Kilda from December 10 to 12, Round 3 at
Glenelg from January 1 to 3 and Round 4 in Newcastle from January
14 to 16. Round 5 will be held at Surfers Paradise from February
4 to 6.
