Volleyball gears up

HIGH SHOT: HMAS Cerberus recently took out the Red Anchor Volleyball competition with victory over an Army team from Holsworthy. The event was held in Sydney. Photo: ABPH Andrew Dakin

By LEUT Tracy Bellerby

The ADF Volleyball Association’s recent tour of Britain has provided a useful foretaste of what to expect when the British Navy teams contest the coming ADFVA national titles in Townsville.

The battle for ADF inter-service supremacy will take place between November 3 and 12 with New Zealand Army men’s and women’s teams also expected to compete.

The beach competition at City Beach, Townsville, on November 4 will be preceded by the association’s annual meeting.

The competition then goes indoors at Murray Stadium from November 5-11.

The ADFVA team, which last visited Britain in 2002 and had the British Air Force team contest its 2005 titles, enjoyed a reasonably good tour this time round.

“Results were good in view of the fact we had limited training time and drew our team from many bases around Australia,” one of the players, LEUT Tracy Bellerby said.

“We experienced high-class competition and the tour built up camaraderie and developed good volleyball relations.”

A representative team will be selected from the Townsville titles to contest the Arafura Games in Darwin from May 12-19 next year.

The ADFVA’s British tour included participation in the Crown Services Tournament and the Scottish Open.

The Crown Services competition draws teams from the British Navy, Army and Air Force as well as Police, Fire and Prison Services.

Competition was of a high calibre. The ADF teams proved they were forces to be reckoned with as they produced a top notch expertise and skill commensurate with the opposition.

The men finished second in the final and the women were third.

AB Kimmie McKenzie was judged the most valuable women’s player of the tournament.

National team representatives were: AB Kimmie McKenzie, SMN Simon Scarlett, LS Rob Hook, LCDR Les Crawford, LEUT Tracy Bellerby.

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