End Of Year Review - Written by Mark Nelligan (TY)
This year a group of us in TY and 3rd Year played volleyball for the school. We started training hard every Tuesday with Ms Cleary and Mr Gleeson and we took it extremely seriously. We even trained in our own time outside of school. Training was tough and consisted of serving, spiking and smashing drills. We nearly always finished with a game against each other practicing in game scenarios. Throughout the year training progressed as we all got better and much more competitive. The training and matches not only brought us together more as a team but also as a group. We all enjoyed playing, which is the most important part.
Even though we all enjoyed playing we really wanted to win. Last year the volleyball team got to an All Ireland Semi Final and there was a massive incentive to improve as a school.
Our first match took place at home in our school hall on December the 2nd. We won well here and in doing so advanced ourselves into the next stage of the competition. Our next game was a quick turnaround on December the 3rd. We knew our capability but we needed to show ourselves we could do it on an away day in Inagh against Spanish Point. We hopped on the bus with one thing on our mind , a win. A win is what we wanted and a win is what we got, after another great performance we were now into an All Ireland Semi Final. The team showed great determination on the day and dug deep to get the win.
We then went on to the Semi Final where it was a group. There were two other teams we had to play and if we won both it would result in us making it to the All Ireland Final. We played hard against both teams and came out on top of the group. We were so close to our main goal.
Final day eventually came around and we were excited, but it was not to be. We all feel we didn’t perform our best and just about fell short at the finish line but we were all thankful for the experience and the memories we had made along the way. The team had come a long way and it showed to us all what you can achieve when you set a goal and work hard at it.
BU16 Volleyball team were runners up in the All Ireland Final after bein narrowly defeated by Colaiste Eoin. We are very proud of the team for making it to an All Ireland Final and trying out a new sport in TY. Well done to all involved. Team captained by Cathal Sweeney. The school volleyball team’s season came to an end in the final, narrowly beaten by Coláiste Eoin after a fantastic campaign. In only the second year of volleyball being played in the school, the team remained undefeated all season until the final, with impressive victories over St Joseph’s Spanish Point, Alfesteiner Secondary School, Elphin Community College and High Cross College Tuam. Captained by Cathal Sweeney, the final was a closely contested match, but Coláiste Eoin edged ahead in the closing stages. It was a great experience for the lads, who worked hard and showed excellent teamwork throughout the year to reach the final.
