THE UK’s largest volleyball event, the Scottish Open, saw 107 teams converge on Perth for the 26th tournament.
Teams came from the USA, Germany, France, the Faroe Islands and all parts of Britain, with the weather for the 92 teams playing outdoors on Perth’s North Inch better than expected.
Sunny spells were interspersed with the odd shower but Sunday afternoon’s strong winds made playing conditions difficult.
The indoor teams playing in the Men’s and Women’s Division of Honour on the five courts in Bell’s Sports Centre had little concern over the weather as they battled to become the 2011 Open champions.
In Saturday’s qualification rounds it was interesting that the final game in men’s pool A saw father against son as Iain Cook, guesting for the USA Athletes went head to head against son Seain who was in the Caledonia side playing for the Scotland Young Seniors.
There was added spice to this fixture as the winning side would qualify for the Sunday’s semi-finals. The USA side also included Roy Munro from the local Kinross Scotrange side who was also drafted in to help the Americans depleted squad.
Glasgow Mets had already won pool A losing only one set to Caledonia whilst pool B saw City of Edinburgh come out top losing one set to each of Polonia Jets and French Connection with the French side finishing in runners-up position to meet Mets in Sunday’s other semi-final.
In the women’s division of honour City of Edinburgh won all their Saturday games losing only one set to old rivals Troon in a 25–17; 22–25; 15–9 three set match.
In the outdoor competition local sides were also having success with Kelty Chiefs, Dodgy Spikers, Dunfermline and Kinross BB qualifying in Men’s Division Two. In the popular mixed section Perth sides Mr G’s All Stars and Hitting Bricks qualified.
On Sunday the outdoor teams had to contend with a strong wind as the competition entered its final stages and Perth’s Dodgy Spikers lost out in the final to last season’s Men’s Division Two winners Concordia Black Sheep.
There was an ‘all Perth’ final in Mixed Division Three with Mr G’s All Stars defeating Hitting Bricks by two sets to one.
Indoors in the Men’s Division of Honour favourites Glasgow Mets and City of Edinburgh cruised to the final with comfortable two sets to love victories over French Connection and USA Athletes respectively.
In the Women’s Division of Honour Troon and City of Edinburgh had similar results against USA Athletes and NUVOC Tigers.
A noisy crowd watched the Women’s Final first with Mel Coutts leading out her City of Edinburgh side against Gillian Lyle’s Troon. The game was over in under 50 minutes with Edinburgh dominating play to win 25–16; 25–18.
In the Men’s Division of Honour final it was a similar story with City of Edinburgh making it a capital double by dumping rivals Glasgow Mets by two sets to love.
Tournament Director David Munro introduced SVA President Jim Berryman to present the awards and thanked the volunteer staff, six of whom are retiring after this tournament, for all their hard work in the background making the Scottish Open the most successful volleyball competition in the country.
This year 130 teams entered the tournament with players coming from a range of countries including U.S.A., Poland,Germany, France, Czech Republic, Holland and the Faroe Islands. Although the weather was mixed over the weekend (with more than a little rain) this didn’t detract from the fun, as the teams playing outdoors adjusted their game and tactics accordingly.
A quality field was assembled for the Divisions of Honour. The women’s division had the league winners City of Edinburgh and the cup winners Troon face the challenge of the younger generation in the two Scotland junior teams as well as the American team US Athletes. The Men’s division included the Scotland National team, who were preparing for a tournament in Andorra, teams from Germany and USA, a composite teams of French players, and the Scotland juniors that included some experienced seniors.
The Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament celebrated 25 years of the annual volleyball extravaganza which has grown to be the largest in the United Kingdom. This year 108 teams entered the tournament with players coming from a range of countries includingU.S.A., Poland, Germany, Holland and Italy. The weather too was kind to the competitors who enjoyed a cool calm Saturday and a warmer windy Sunday making it the driest tournament for a number of years.
The division of honour teams playing indoors at Bell’s Sports Centre had a full weekend of games with the U.S.A. Athletes and Scottish League Champions Troon reaching the women’s final. Dundee reached the men’s finals pipping Team Fife at the semi-final stage to meet ZAL Poland on Bell’s centre court. Continue reading →
FRIDAY
Bill Eddington’s U.S.A. Athletes International team certainly lived up to their potential in a thrilling weekend’s volleyball at Bell’s Sports Centre as the 23rd Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament attracted a total of 111 teams to the Fair City of Perth.
As well as the Americans competing in the divisions of honour indoors there were teams from Belgium, Poland, Italy and Russia competing outdoors in the other divisions which meant a truly continental competition in unusually sunny Scotland where the main problems were sun and dust rather than the usual rain and mud!
U.S.A. Athletes’ Crowd Thrilling Final at Scottish Open Volleyball 2006.
U.S.A. Athletes.
Bill Eddington’s U.S.A. Athletes International team certainly lived up to their potential in a thrilling weekend’s volleyball at Bell’s Sports Centre as the 2006 21st Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament attracted a total of 131 teams to the Fair City of Perth.
The May weekend of the 29th 2005 witnessed a tremendous festival atmosphere in and around the North Inch as 1,073 volleyball players descended on Perth from all over Europe for the twentieth Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament.
A late sponsorship deal from Scottish Power renewables started the weekend on a positive note but the cold and wet weather on Saturday put a slight dampener on the standard of volleyball which could be played outdoors due to the fact that players were unable to gain a grip on the slippery surface of the North Inch. This of course did not detract from the fun as teams adjusted their game to suit and tactics changed accordingly.
It was celebration big style around the North Inch on the 29 and 30 May 2004 with the annual Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament celebrating 20 years of top class volleyball in Perth.
NewYork College sides X-Patriots arrived in Perth on Thursday evening and true to their inimitable style they were there on the North Inch on that very evening to help the local band of volunteers erect the 30 sets of outdoor nets and posts for the weekend’s outdoor competition.
Results of the Scottish Open Volleyball Tournament 2003 at Bell’s Sports Centre, Perth, Scotland.
The dry sunny weekend saw over a thousand people using 30 outdoor courts in the best of conditions, many players staying around organizing scratch games amongst themselves whenever a spare court became available.