Volleyball
16 September, 2024
O'Brien in race to be fit for championships
Volleyball Horsham under 19 boys’ captain Malachy O’Brien is in a race to be fully fit for the junior country championships next week.
O’Brien suffered an ankle injury during an A grade game last month and has been working overtime with his physio to be right for the championships which start next Thursday night.
O’Brien returned to training last Sunday where he participated in all drills except spiking to ensure he found his court sense, before returning to the court in his next A grade game as a libero, then again at Sunday’s final training session, where the plan is to do more work at the net.
Under 19 boys’ coach Jack Hannan is confident but cautious when assessing O’Brien’s chances of making it in time.
“You can’t hide an ankle injury when it comes to volleyball and in Malachy’s case, being a key attacker, we need to make sure he ticks all the boxes before he can fulfill his place in the team.”
“Best case scenario is he can pick up where he left off before he got injured, with the worst-case scenario being he plays a backcourt defensive role, which he is more than capable of.”
Volleyball Victoria has been granted an exemption for Haidyn Young to participate as an overage player to cover for O’Brien should he not make it.
FIXTURE RELEASED
Volleyball Victoria has released the fixture for next week’s championships with Volleyball Horsham under 19 boys and girls featuring in the opening matches.
The boys will open the championships on the Thursday night with a match up against Warrnambool, while the girls will feature against Mildura Academy.
Volleyball Horsham vice-president Matt McLoughlin is excited for those two teams as they get rewarded with the feature matches.
“I think it is great for our two teams to have the focus on them in these two opening night matches, in a nice move by Volleyball Victoria to shine the spotlight on the home teams.”
“From a Volleyball Horsham perspective, we thank both Warrnambool and Mildura Academy for agreeing to the fixture and sharing in the spotlight.”
McLoughlin says Volleyball Victoria is going all out for these championships to give the participants the opportunity to experience everything a championship has to offer, with court side signage being developed specifically for the event as well as familiar signage teams and spectators see at elite level matches that Volleyball Victoria host.
“The stadium is going to look fantastic and hopefully the participants enjoy playing in such a great environment.”
Another feature of the championships will be the staging of an Opening Ceremony on Friday from around 130pm.
The ceremony will feature a march of all the teams, the national anthem by the talented Sienna Walsgott and players’, coach’s and referee’s oaths delivered by Volleyball Horsham representatives.
The championships open with the two feature matches on Thursday night, then continue Friday and Saturday with games commencing at 830am each morning, with medal matches from 830am on Sunday morning.
A closing ceremony where medals will be presented by Volleyball Horsham Hall of Fame members will be held on Sunday from around 1230pm.
Volleyball Horsham is looking forward to delivering this event on behalf of Volleyball Victoria for the next three years and that the athletes enjoy the experience.