Scotland Junior boys as many will know are in action in the European Small Nations Championships finals in Scotland at Ravenscraig, but our Junior girls ( under 18’s) are in major action too; heading to the finals in the same championships in Cyprus. We know that both groups are incredibly excited about what lies ahead.
Having come through a qualifier in January in Malta with straight set victories over Malta and Northern Ireland and a 4 set defeat by Cyprus, the girls go into a four team final pool involving Cyprus, Luxembourg and Leichtenstein. These 3 teams are traditionally the powerhouses of these championships so every match that our young women will play will be of the greatest intensity.
Will they be up for the challenge. Of course they will. The team unfortunately will be without statistically our most successful player at the qualifiers Claire Ramage and Katie Shaw but the 12 players who are going have a wealth of Senior and Junior National League and UK School Games experience and 10 of them, of course have gained great experience from the tournament in Malta. We have every reason to expect that our talented youngsters will step up to the mark and make Scotland proud of our young volleyballers whatever the match outcomes.
Added to the group who went to Malta and about to experience their first caps for Scotland are Elise Rodgers of Su Ragazzi and Laurie McKillop of Marr College. They will be joining their team mates in matches which will be held in the amazing 7,000 seat Spyros Kyprianou near Limassol.
The match programme is
April 6th v Cyprus ( match start 17.00 hours British time)
April 7th v Luxembourg ( 14.00 hours )
and April 8th v Leichtenstein ( 14.00 hours)
live match scoring can be picked up on the CEV website.
The travelling squad is:
Gemma Ramsay ( City of Edinburgh – captain)
Sophie Hunter ( C o E – vice captain)
Elise Rodgers ( Su Ragazzi)
Katie Barbour ( Troon)
Naomi Symonds ( C o E)
Eilidh Cruise ( Troon)
Nicola McKenzie ( Dundee )
Katie Sampson ( C o E)
Laurie McKillop ( Marr College)
Michalina Ognewa ( North Lanarkshire)
Mhairi Agnew ( Su Ragazzi)
Becky Arthur ( C o E)
Before they travel the group would like to thank the Scottish Volleyball Association particularly the CEO Margaret Ann Fleming and Pathways Manager Fiona McNeilly for their support for this venture and the Scottish Sports Awards and the Robertson Trust for giving significant financial support for both the qualifying and finals trips.
Once again we know that the group will be travelling with the Scottish Volleyball community’s best wishes and the girls will endeavour to provide you with great performances and good results.
Get ready to be excited with all that’s going on !!
Vince Krawczyk – coach to the Scottish young senior women.
(other staff members to the group are Tom Rooney – as Assistant Coach and Aileen Hall – Team Manager)