A few words from me, after an enjoyable finals day at the weekend.
Firstly, some thanks on behalf of us all:
1. To all the helpers on the day, from those who helped get the hall and equipment ready through to the referees, scorers, line judges, those who chose the MVPs for the matches and, of course, the players who gave us 3 good competitive matches.
2. Thanks, in particular, to Maidstone VC club members who got involved and kept things moving throughout the day. And to Gabriella Lunghi for keeping the announcements flowing and Mark for supplying us with music during the breaks.
3. Thanks to Dartford for bringing the big drum. It seemed to me that Juris was most active with the drumstick and I imagine he may well be nursing a banging headache, this morning.
4. Finally, and by no means least, I would like to record our appreciation to Guin Batten, Deputy CEO of Volleyball England, who gave up her time to join us for part of the afternoon and to hand out the trophies & medals. I hope some of you took the opportunity to see what an Olympic silver medal looks like. For those who weren’t already aware, Guin was a silver medallist in the women’s quadruple sculls at Sydney 2000 alongside her elder sister Miriam, Gillian Lindsey and Katherine Grainger. Guin brought her medal along with her and yes, it’s true – they really are heavy!
Congratulations to the winners on the day and throughout the season:
Men's Plate Final: winner Maidstone Rocks. Match MVP Tom Hunt (Tonbridge-2). Tom demonstrated a consistent energy and willingness on court. Set 2 probably saw the best display of those qualities from Tom, with some cracking line shots and smart plays.
Stan Hastie Men’s Cup Final: winner Strood. Match MVP Mark Allan (Strood). There were several contenders in this 5-set battle between the 2 teams (the 2nd such result between them in the last 6 weeks) with some impressive hitting, blocking and serving from both teams. The award went to Mark who led the team well and showed calmness under pressure, with a consistently high level of play across all 5 sets.
June Morgan Women’s KO Trophy: winner Dartford W1. Match MVP Mei Kit Chan (Invicta). The award went to MK based on sheer aggression on court, whether serving or hitting. Consistent and composed play, MK now has 2 Women's Final MVP awards in a row.
Women’s Division: winner Dartford W1. Divisional MVP Mei Kit Chan (Invicta). 42 different players received nominations.
Men’s Division 1: winner Team Medway. Divisional MVP Uvis Bertulsons (Strood). Uvis is returning to his native Latvia and we wish him well for the future. All the players at Strood and Dartford will miss him for his energy and enthusiasm on court. We hope we will see him again, some time.
Men’s Division 2: winner Maidstone Rocks. Divisional MVPs Andrew Cheung (Tonbridge-2), Jasok Sithamparanathan (Maidstone Rocks), Stoyko Stanchev (Dartford-2), Tom Hunt (Tonbridge-2). 24 different players picked up nominations. The joint winners all received 3 votes.
Foundation League: winners Maidstone Quartz. Divisional MVP Blaich Wright (Strood). An evenly- spread contest, with all contenders receiving the same number of votes with 1 exception. Blaich achieved 1 more vote than the others in this ‘social / beginners / old salts’ division.
Link to KCVA Facebook Group (a few more photos on display) here: