AN exciting new initiative will see Mount Gambier serve up a top-level volleyball association in the Blue Lake city in coming months.
While still in the planning process, association president and initiator Cambell Baker said he hoped to kick off the competition in Term 4 of the school year.
Baker began playing volleyball in Year 8 where he competed in the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup in Melbourne every year and was also involved with representative teams as a junior.
He said after moving to Mount Gambier last year, the cool conditions spiked his interest in introducing another indoor sport to the region.
As a physical education teacher, Baker said the weather was uninviting in the winter months and hoped an indoor volleyball competition could be the answer to increasing the community’s activity.
“Living in Mount Gambier, I soon realised the inclement weather and thought this could be one of the main factors that deterred kids from being physically active,” he said.
“As to my knowledge, the main sports played during winter in Mount Gambier are football, netball, soccer, hockey and basketball – with basketball being the only sport played indoors.
“As a football player I understand the effort it takes to drag yourself outside to run around in the often wet and freezing conditions.
“As a P.E. teacher, promoting physical activity is something I value quite highly and I thought offering an alternative indoor sport like volleyball will give kids another opportunity to get out of the house, be physically active and socialise with members of the community.”
Baker has worked alongside Volleyball SA participation manager Steven Freeling and Starclub field officer Tony Elletson to put the idea into motion.
Still in the developing stages, the association will host several come-and-try registration nights in coming weeks to gauge the level of interest.
As well as the come-and-try nights, Baker also hopes to run a weekly Spikezone session.
“SpikeZone is a modified version of volleyball, designed especially for primary school students aged between eight and 13 years to help them develop their skills and understanding of the sport, before transitioning into a competitive game,” he said.
“It is similar to Auskick (football), Milo Cricket (cricket), Net, Set, Go (netball).”
Through junior development, Baker hopes to grow the sport, which has otherwise been played socially in the South East.
“I grew up playing both social and competitive volleyball and found the sport extremely enjoyable,” he said.
“Not many people know this but approximately one-billion people worldwide play volleyball, it’s one of the most popular sports in the world.
“I would love to see people of all ages being involved in such a great sport.”
Baker said the first season will be quite short – approximately six to eight weeks – as a trial.
“At this stage, we are looking at beginning a shortened Spikezone and Junior and Senior competitions in Term 4 of the school year as a ‘tester’, before opening up two longer seasons next year,” he said.
“We are looking to run all three events on a Monday night with Spikezone running first, followed by Junior League and then Senior League.
“Once we have worked out numbers of teams and players we will be able to organise a longer season in 2019.”
While Baker would be proud to see Mount Gambier athletes contend for state selection and beyond in the future, he said the main aim was to encourage the community to remain physically active.
“I would love to see some people from Mount Gambier representing their state or country in volleyball, but at the end of the day, providing opportunities for people to get out of the house, be physically active and socialise with members of the community is at the forefront of what we are trying to do,” he said.
“It is important to note that anyone of any skill level is welcome to come out and participate.”
The competition will be held in Mount Gambier High School’s gymnasium, which has the ability to facilitate two games simultaneously, all-year-round.
To keep the community in the loop, a Mount Gambier Volleyball Association Facebook page has recently been created.
The page will post key information as the competition gets under way.
The association will host its inaugural annual general meeting at Macs Hotel on Monday, July 23, before holding several registration nights and a free barbecue in August.
For more information contact the association through its Facebook page.
