City of Edinburgh played host to the first round of The Under 15 girls Junior National League and what an opening event it was.
With 2 Marr College teams travelling from the west, Aberdeen Grammar travelling down from the North and City of Edinburgh representing the East, it was great to see the breadth of junior volleyball showcased in the one sports hall.
This was In fact the first event Junior National League match for the girls from Aberdeen and they arrived full of enthusiasm. It’s great to see a new team enter the set-up, well done to Ross Allan and his support network for delivering such an impressive programme.
The day was set-up superbly by City of Edinburgh as parents had organised teas/coffees and cakes for the teams and their supporters. The club also brought along a large number of parents and supporters to the day.
On top of this, Albert Jaster was present for the day as part of a 
new mentoring system to assist all the junior referees, scorers and line-judges.
The hosts started off the day with a good tempo to the match with Marr College B with all 19 players receiving court time as Edinburgh edged out the victory.
Aberdeen Grammar School took to the court next to make their JNL debut against Marr College A and it does not get much tougher than that with the Ayrshire club winning comfortably.
In the penultimate match Grammar remained on court as the took on Marr College B. They settled into the occasion and performed well although losing 15-17 in the 3rd tie-break.
The last game made for a perfect finish to the day as both City of Edinburgh and Marr College should good ball control and a willingness to try and hit to win. It was the home side, cheered on from the crowd who managed to edge out the win 15-13 in the final set.
Teams won and lost, however, the important part of the day was that all left with smiles, the standard of play in everyone’s 2nd match was better than their 1st and there was a clear improvement in the knowledge and confidence of the young referees and the players.
A massive well done is due to everyone who was present and contributed.