Volleyball numbers spiking on Surf Coast

A PASSIONATE community is serving up the sport of volleyball on the Surf Coast and participation is growing at a rapid pace.

Volleyball is the talk of the town following the announcement of the Great Ocean Road Beach Volleyfest later this year, and Surf Coast Volleyball Association (SCVA) president Mit Kalayaboon is encouraging all residents and volleyball lovers to have a spike at Wurdi Baierr Stadium.

“It’s hard to imagine life before joining this club,” Kalayaboon said.

“It’s such a regular thing to see these guys every week and people who would never normally mesh in other circles are drawn to each other from this association and the sport of volleyball.

“It’s a terrific club and a terrific community.”

SCVA was formed in 2019 by local members and competed in its first competition back in June.

A men’s team travelled to the Country Championships that were held in Horsham and the players managed to play-off for bronze, unfortunately losing to Mornington.

The association is now looking to compete in a further two or three competitions this year including the Good Neighbour competition in Canberra in November.

Juniors and senior mixed social games are played in Torquay at Wurdi Baierr Stadium on Thursday evenings with members travelling from Lorne, Aireys Inlet and Bannockburn to play.

SCVA also offers a ‘Spikezone’ program, Volleyball Australia’s entry-level Volleyball program for children aged between five and 13.

Kalayaboon has observed the club continue to grow in participation since taking up his presidency, starting from originally 30 players to now more than 80, which has led him to start thinking about possibilities to expand.

“This is a great venue we have at Wurdi Baierr Stadium, but the volleyball courts we are using aren’t regulation, we’re just making the best out of what we have,” Kalayaboon said.

“We’ve approached council and they’re really interested in giving us another two full-sized courts, so hopefully we can get five courts, if possible, but we understand how tough it is to compete with sports such as football, netball and particularly basketball.”

The SCVA encourages anyone interested at any age to participate. Enquiries can be made at [email protected].

SCVA is also on the lookout for sponsors as its competition teams begin going to tournaments.