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As the indoor season for volleyball starts in earnest in September, Richmond Volleyball Club look back over a hugely successful beach volleyball season this past summer.
The beach division saw their membership more than double since the last full season in 2019. Richmond ran 28 training sessions each week, catering for juniors and adults from beginners to advanced, in addition to regular Saturday open sessions for adults. The club hosted five junior beach volleyball camps this season, with over 140 young players aged between 9 and 17 taking part over the course of the summer season. For many of the junior players, this was their first time learning and playing beach volleyball.
Richmond Hosts UKBT Tournaments
Over the summer months, Richmond hosted 15 UK Beach Tour tournaments with teams travelling in from as far away as Scotland and Wales to compete at the beach courts in Teddington.
The UKBT (UK Beach Tour) is an organisation which Volleyball England uses to organise Adult and for this year Junior Beach tournaments in the UK. These ran throughout the summer giving players many opportunities to compete, and for many, this was their first time competing.
Thank you to all the players who took part!
London Youth Games takes to the Sand for the first time
Richmond Volleyball Club will have players representing at least three boroughs in the upcoming London Youth Games — Richmond, Kingston and Wandsworth.
The London Youth Games involves the 33 London Borough’s competing against each other and is the largest multi-sport event for young people in Europe. Due to covid restrictions, the volleyball games will, for the first time ever be taking place on the sand this year. The competition will follow beach volleyball rules with some adaptations and is in a 4v4 format.
The Volleyball tournaments will take place at Barn Elms courts on September 19th. It promises to be an exciting and lively atmosphere on the day.
Good luck to all our players.
Club Success at the U18s Inter-Regionals
On the 10th and 11th July 2021, Richmond junior beach volleyball players travelled to Cardiff to represent London in the U18 Inter-regional Beach Volleyball Championships.
Thirteen Richmond players were chosen to represent London across the various pools in the championships.
The girls selected were Florence Ingham, Izzy Hames, Nina Erminio, Ellie Glowrey, Anna Szentessy, Anja Erminio, and Lana Shaughnessy.
Elsa Meserlian the London Regional U17 Girls Head Coach says:
I was very proud of the girls who slowly gained momentum as the day progressed. The level of the competition has improved, and a lot of the teams we played were tough. There is a lot to say about how they dug deep and pulled a win in a lot of the matches. I look forward to hearing about where these girls land in their volleyball careers.
Representing the London boys’ team were Richmond players George Ruddick, Mateusz Bobkowski, Ben Sanders, Daniel Yordanov, Nicholas Alzate-Sobotka and Patryk Podwika.
The weekend resulted in a podium finish for London. With the London girl's team taking home gold. Sisters Nina and Anja Erminio and Izzy Hames partnering with Anna Szentessy formed the final winning women’s team.
Ben Sanders and partner Daniel Yordanov and Nicholas Alzate-Sobotka with partner Patryk Podwika brought home bronze for the boys.
UK Beach Tour Junior
Championships
The 3rd and 4th of July 2021 saw a brilliant weekend for Richmond juniors at the UK Beach Tour Junior Championships at Sandbanks.
Medallists from Richmond featured on podiums across the categories over the weekend.
Starting up with the Under 12s, Tyler Sourmarie and Olivia Cross won bronze in their first Sandbanks tournament.
In the Under 14s Richmond won gold across both genders with Ben Sanders and Patryk Podwika winning the boys and Anja Erminio and Anna Szentessy the girl's competition. Richmond player Nicholas Alzate-Sobotka also won bronze in the U14s boys, partnering with Lewis Bunton.
In the Under 16s boys, Richmond's Peter Soczewka won gold playing with Robert Morgan, while Ben Sanders got bronze partnering Maks Makowski.
In the Under 16s girls, Richmond pair Izzy Hames and Anna Szentessy won silver.
And finally, the Under 18s boys final was an all Richmond affair with Enrique Bello and Peter Soczweka winning the gold against Jake Sanders and Bartek Soczewka.
All images courtesy of SandSphotos. Thank you Steve Smith.
View the full photo gallery on www.SandSphotos.co.uk click here for July 3rd and here for July 4th
Team Bello Make History
At the elite level, Joaquin and Javier Bello made history on August 15 2021, by winning their first FIVB World Tour tournament in Cortegaça, Portugal. They are the first British men's beach volleyball pair to achieve such a great victory.
Winning Team Bello (L to R) Javier , Luis, Barbara & Joaquin, in Cortegaça, Portugal, August 2021
The 21-year-old twins qualified for the knockout stages without losing a set. In the final, they came up against home favourites Pedrosa and Campos, who took the first set (17-21). But the Bellos refused to give up and battled back to take the second (21-15) and third set (15-8), making British beach volleyball history in the process.
One of the Bello brothers' next main goals is to represent England and challenge for a medal at next year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
… a few years earlier, the Bello brothers
training at Barn Elms
Richmond players secure Commonwealth Games Funding
Richmond players Katie Keefe, Joaquin Bello and Javier Bello were among the eight players to win funding at Commonwealth Games Funding Tournament.
The tournament took place over three days 9-11 July 2021 at Canford Cliffs Beach, Poole, where the country’s top 10 teams battled it out. The funding opens a big opportunity for the players to prepare to be selected to represent England at next year's home games in Birmingham.
Without dropping a single set, the Bello brothers secured £18,000 towards their Birmingham 2022 preparations at the Commonwealth Games Funding Tournament in Bournemouth in July. Image courtesy of Steve Smith, www.SandSphotos.co.uk
Richmond Volleyball player Katie Keefe (pictured right) and her partner Isabelle Tucker were amongst the top two women’s teams who secured funding for the Commonwealth Games. Image courtesy of Steve Smith, www.SandSphotos.co.uk
From 28 July – 8 August 2022 Birmingham will host the largest sporting and cultural event to take place in this country in a decade. Beach volleyball will feature on nine out of the 11 days of spectacular sporting action. The first athletes will step out onto the beach courts on the 30th of July, with the battle for bronze, silver and gold medals scheduled for Sunday, 7th August, 2022.
Beach Volleyball tickets will be available as part of the Main Ticket Ballot opening on 8 September 2021.
To learn how to get your tickets, visit the official website of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games at: www.birmingham2022.com
Richmond Bucks
Ahead of the new National League season, the Men's NVL2 team were promoted to the 1st division after a restructure of the league. The team had finished second in the last completed season so were offered the chance to step up to the higher division.
This is a great opportunity for one of the club's youngest squads. Also, the team have been renamed Richmond Bucks to help give the team an identity within the club and wider volleyball community.
Men's coaching shake up
After a successful spell as Men's Head Coach Luis Bello has stepped down to focus his attention on coaching his sons Javier and Joaquin as they prepare for next year's Commonwealth Games beach volleyball competition.
Men's Division manager Anton Kornilov commented:
Luis has been a critical part of our team for more than 10 years as a player, coach and a fantastic volleyball ambassador. He developed several generations of Richmond juniors who went on to win National junior competitions and represent England internationally indoors and on the beach. His passion and technical ability is second to none. We will miss him immensely and welcome him back if he decides to return to the club in a coaching or playing capacity. Grande Luis!
Marcel Sivak will take over as coach of Richmond Docklands while Peter Soczewka continues as coach of Richmond Bucks. Marcel has already made his mark by running a successful series of open sessions during the summer as he looks to build the Docklands squad ahead of the new Super League season.
Richmond Girls bounce back to victory in the U15s National Championships
On 29 May 2021, Richmond U15 girls defend their national title for the third year in a row. With the 2020 National U15s indoor championships cancelled last year due to coronavirus the competition went ahead under strict covid regulations a year after planned.
The RVB U15s girls' team (Top L-R) Team Manager Lorraine Hames, Defne Cinar, Anja Erminio, Lisa Canevari, Ann-Cathrin Mueller, Imge Esmer, Marta Pavlovic , Coach Marjana Senk-Erminio, Coach Francesca Secchi. (Bottom L-R) Izzy Hames, Eylul Erol, Pamukcu, Ellie Glowrey and Anna Szentessy. Images courtesy of Phil Gibbin Photography
With less than a month’s notice, the Richmond girls managed to meet for a few practise sessions before heading to the National Volleyball Centre at Kettering. Due to coronavirus, this was the first time the team had got together to train for many months.
On the day captain, Lisa Canevari led the team to victory against the top national U15 teams, with the Richmond team not dropping a single set in any of their matches. The U15s championship was Lisa’s final time playing for Richmond as she moves to New York this summer. We wish her much success in the future.
Thank you to everyone involved who worked behind the scenes to make the event happen during such difficult times — the coaches Francesca Secchi and Marjana Senk-Erminio, the German School for allowing training, the parents and volunteers and Volleyball England for hosting such a fantastic event.
Team captain Lisa Canevari hands out the medals
Images courtesy of Phil Gibbin Photography view the Championship image gallery here
AGM 2021
After a two-year gap (for obvious reasons), the club held its AGM on Sunday, 1st August via Zoom (a club first).
A good turnout learnt how the club has dealt with a difficult 18 months and how the club remains in a strong position as we come out of the pandemic. The meeting was also a chance to pay tribute to outgoing Club Chair Vera Kenyon. Newly elected Chair Andy Hopper said
On behalf of the club I’d like to thank Vera for all her hard work as the Club’s chair for the last 3 years. Vera took over at a very difficult time and helped put the club back on track. She’s had to deal with a lot behind the scenes which will have gone unnoticed by most of the club’s members, but we are all in Vera’s debt for everything she has done for the club.
Thanks very much Vera.
Thanks also went to Fab Goalen and Ilaria Bigotto, who stepped down from their Exec roles; their efforts and work are much appreciated. The meeting saw the re-election of a number of club officers as well as new appointments.
Congratulations to Marcel Sivak (Club Secretary) and Corina Glowrey (Communications Officer) on their new Exec Committee roles. We’re sure they’ll do a great job.
Panos Karagiannis
Men’s captain Panos Karagiannis, unfortunately, left London in the summer leaving a big hole in Richmond Docklands’ squad. Panos has been a key part of Richmond’s success in recent years and will be sorely missed. Before he left Panos said:
I really enjoyed being part of the Richmond family since the beginning, six and a half years ago. I think we accomplished a lot in all those years and we brought Richmond volleyball in a good position where we are one of the top teams in England.
Panos won Docklands’ Players’ Player of the year award for the last three seasons and will be incredibly hard to replace. We wish him and his family all the best as they start their new life in Italy.
Lisa Canevari
We wish all the best to Lisa Canevari, and her family as they move to New York. Lisa is embarking on a new exciting, adventure in the 'Big Apple' playing both indoor and beach.
Image courtesy of Steve Smith www.SandSphotos.co.uk
Lisa joined Richmond in 2014 when she was 9 years old and was put as libero in the U18s Team. Since then she has trained and competed for Richmond where she was given the opportunity of winning several National Titles for different age groups. In 2019 she was selected to join the England Cadet Squad whose biggest achievement has been a silver medal at NEVZA 2019.
Lisa played her first beach volleyball competition at Sandbanks in 2015, with Katie Keefe in the U14s. After trainings, tournaments and National titles, she represented England at the U18s European Championship with a 9th place finish.
Lisa’s last indoor match with Richmond took place on 29 May 2021, when she captained the girl's team to win the U15s national title.
Lisa says:
Richmond will remain in my heart forever as my first volleyball family.
Last week, (September 2-5) Lisa took part in the CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship, in Ljubljana, Slovenia with her partner Isabelle Tucker. After putting up an impressive fight, the pair finished in 9th place overall. Well done Lisa, we are so very proud of you, we will be supporting you wherever you play and compete, and wish you much luck and success in the future.
A young Katie Keefe (left) and Lisa Canevari (right) competing at Sandbanks
Lisa as a young Libero
Katie Keefe
Katie Keefe leaves Richmond to travel state-side to Stetson University in Florida.
Katie first started playing beach volleyball at Barn Elms in 2013 aged 11 and then followed into playing indoor for Richmond in September of that year. She was selected for the England Cadet Squad just before her 12th birthday in 2014 and earned her first international cap for England in beach volleyball at the NEVZA championships in the summer of 2014 and her first international cap in indoor volleyball in Madrid later on that year.
Her beach accolades include Gold at the U19 2018 NEVZA Beach Championships, Gold in the U16 and U18 UK beach championships and two 9th place finishes in the European U18 Championships in 2018 and 2020.
In indoor, Katie was an essential part of the Richmond Team securing National Titles in the U15 and U18 teams 2018 and the National U16 title in 2019, won Silver playing for the England Senior Squad in 2019 at the European Novotel Cup and has been capped numerous times for England.
Katie secured a 4-year beach volleyball scholarship to US NCAA Division 1 Stetson University in Florida and started there this August. She will continue to play for England both on the beach and for the England Senior Indoor Squad. Katie is grateful to all those who helped her get to where she is today:
Thank you to everyone at Richmond Volleyball Club, my coaches, my teammates, the volunteers and family and friends for all the support in the past which has led me to this exciting next stage of my life and volleyball career. I couldn’t have done it without you! Go Richmond!
Katie at the Commonwealth-Games-Funding-Tournament
Image credit: Steve Smith
www.sandsphotos.co.uk
It’s the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, parents and players, on and off the court, that helps our club & events run smoothly. Our volunteers make an invaluable contribution to the success and development of our players. And there’s always a way you can help. If you are able to volunteer any of your time to assist the club, whether it’s taxiing to tournaments, scoring a match, or coaching we would love to hear from you, email us at contact@richmondvolleyball.co.uk
If you have any news to contribute or have any suggestions on articles you would like to see featured in our newsletter, please let us know, by emailing Corina at media@richmondvolleyball.co.uk
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