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2007-08 News to be updated soon! If you have a 'Castle Story you'd like to share email it to castlenews@hotmail.co.uk
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NSVC Do the Double at the Under 15s
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Newcastle (Staffs) topped a great season for Junior Volleyball by doing the double at Volleyball England's National Under 15s Finals, scooping both the Boy's and Girl's titles. On 29th March, the Boy's competition saw some legendary play from 'Castle, with the lads taking one set 25-0 against Tendring with Michal Hawiar serving a total of 30 points in a row leading into the second set! Needless to say, 'Castle made it to the Final against Boswells, a repeat clash of the 2005 final. In a 3 set match, it was 'Castle who came out on top, thanks to strong performances by James Goodwin, Ru Scott, Will Roberts and Michal Hawiar, 2-1 (25-8, 22-25, 15-3). The Girls' event on Sunday saw 'Castle go through their pool of Wesse, Nunthorpe (Middlesbrough) and Ashcombe (Dorking). The final saw Tameside and 'Castle battle it out in what proved to be an epic encounter. The Manchester girls took the first set before 'Castle got back into the game in the second. After both teams reached match-point in the third set, the championships was won with the signature play of the team; Bronwin Cutler reverse setting to Meg Viggars who powered the ball down. |
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'Castle Girls Go through to u16s Cup Finals
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NSVC's Under 16s Girls have qualified for the Volleyball England National Cup Finals after a fantastic performance at the Top 8's at Southglade Leisure Centre, Nottingham, 8th of March. Charlotte James and Meg Viggars led the attack with power and accuracy and were ably set by Bronwyn Cutler. Also putting on a top performance, making the Semi-Finals were the 'Castle u16 Boys squad, who played to a home crowd at Keele University. Sam Tompkinson, James Goodwin, Ru Scott, and Will Roberts to the fore. The Girls knocked out Boswells to make NSVC's female debut at the Cup Finals, a tremendous achievement from all players involved. The boys competition saw 'Castle pull out an amazing 2-0 win against Tendring to make it to the Semis, but going straight into another match made it tough and Ernest Bevin pushed past the team to go through. |
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Under 14s Impress
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'Castle qualified for both the Boys' and Girls' competition on the 2nd & 3rd of March at Ernest Bevin College, in Tooting South London. Over 100 teams had entered the regional rounds across the country for the first National u14s competition. In the Boy's competition, the A team topped their pool, having won all of their matches and the B team also qualified for the Semi Finals, having been the best 2nd place team in all groups. The first semi saw a repeat of the pool matches, with Wessex topping 'Castle B's team of Tom Tatton, Eliiott Francis, Sam Shenton and Dan Baddeley 2-0 (25-15, 25-8). The A team had a close encounter with Boswells B, but took a 2-1 win to meet Wessex in the finals. Things were close but Wessex crept ahead to take the match 2-0 (25-21, 25-18) and take the title, with Newcastle A's Alex Liebeck, Ash Carr, Tim Hales and Dom Plant picking up 2nd and B taking joint 3rd place. The Girls' competition was another exciting day for 'Castle. The A team (Meg Viggars, Ruth Gurgul, Jen Bellamy and Meg Otway) topped their pool with ease, taking all matches and yet again a 'Castle B team (Emma Shelley-Hitchen, Sophie Plant, Jess Roberts, Georgia Sorrentino) got through to the Semis having kept their cool in a nail biting pool match, 28-26 in the 2nd set! With a noisy crowd of spectators, the B team had a tough match against Wessex, getting knocked out at third place. The A team faced Boswells A in their Semi, coming from a set down to take the win to the final 2-1 (24-26, 25-8, 15-5). The final saw captain Meg Viggars lead the way against Wessex, taking a 2-0 victory and the first u14 title. Newcastle (Staffs) A Boys Team: 2nd B Team: 3rd Newcastle (Staffs) A Girls Team: 1st B Team: 3rd |
2006-07 News
| NSVC Summer Do 2007 | Saturday the 19th of May will play host to the 2007 'Castle Summer Do. During the day a fun 4-a-side tournament will be held at Madeley High School followed by food and entertainment in the evening at The Golfers Arms, Keele Road, Keel, ST5 5AB |
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'Castle Win Men's Shield!
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In front of around 50 'Castle fans and several hundred Volleyball Supporters, The Men's First team took their second 5 setter against Manchester in a week. The tense match kept the crowd on their seats and saw 'Castle triumph. See full match report on this site now. |
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Men 1 Make National Shield Final!!!!
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The 'Castle men's first team has reached the final of the National Shield Competition with an emphatic 3-0 win over division 2 high fliers Guildford International! The final will take place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on the 21st April and plans are already in motion to ensure a large 'Castle presence in the stands on the day! The team will take on Manchester in the final meaning that the Guest brothers will come head-to-head: Richard playing for 'Castle and Simon coaching Manchester against his former club. It is a big day for Richard as he will also be coaching City of Salford in the women's shield final! Good luck to the team as they try to bring home the club's first ever senior title! |
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'Best Ever' Cup Semi-Finals at Keele University
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'Castle's home venue of Keele University played host to the National Senior Cup Semi-Finals on the 17th March in conjunction with the under 16 and under 18 boys top 8s and it was an unrivalled success with huge crowds at matches. Some quarters had questioned the choice of venue, but with over 200 Volleyball fans cramming into the new sports hall to watch the Malory v Sheffield match, and around 350 spectators at the venue in total the noise and atmosphere was fantastic... just like 'Castle home matches! |
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Disappointment for Under 18 Men
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The under 18 men's team were knocked out of the u18 National Championships after a poor display against an Ashcombe team that contained players from across the South-East and London. The lads started the day with a great performance against Sheffield but lost out 2-0 to a very talented side containing a number of England Junior internationals, and then went straight onto court against Ashcombe, with a greatly contrasting performance that resulted in another 2-0 defeat. After some straight talking from the coaching staff the team returned to court to show what a good level of Volleyball they can play by beating Tendring 2-0. |
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Under 16 Boys Come 5th In Country!
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The under 16 boys ended up finishing joint 5th at the National Top 8s at Keele University this weekend, after losing to reigning champions Boswells, and an excellent Wessex team before comfortably beating Cleobury in the group stages. Particularly impressive on the day were younger players Nick Glover and Rupert Scott, with Adam Jones and Ryan O'Callaghan looking more than capable of making an impression in the u18s competition next season. With so many promising players 'playing up' in this u16s team the prospects for next year look good. The final will be an all Essex affair as Boswells will take on fierce reveals Tendring (who are coached by former 'Castle player Neil 'Noodle' Masters). |
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'Castle Success At National Under 15s
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Both the girls and boys under 15s team qualified for the National Top 8s event and played for the opportunity to call themselves the best team in England. On Saturday the girls took to the court in a very tough group and despite a very nervous start came out 3rd in the group and 5th overall in the country. The win over Wessex was well-deserved and the girls benefited from playing against the two teams that went on to make the final: Boswells and Tameside. Wessex and Tameside are two of the biggest names in girls Volleyball in England so this performance from 'Castle is a great achievement. On Sunday the lads the put into a similarly tough group with Tendring, Boswells and Wessex: the group was called "The Supercup" by one of the opposition coaches due to the strength of the teams. After losing a very tight match v Tendring the lads were beaten by eventual champions Boswells, and then beat Wessex 2-0 to finish third in group and match the overall performance of the girls! Well done to all the players, thanks to the coaches for all their hard work and to the parents for their support! |
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Volleyball has been one of three new sports to be added to the UK School Games, which will take place in Coventry this August. Sam Allen, one of Newcastle (Staffs) junior stars was selected to represent British Volleyball amogst 14 young athletes from various sports. Marlon Devonish, 100m relay gold medalist from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games was on site today, 13th February, to meet the young players and talk about the games. When asking Sam if he'd like to see a gold medal, Sam said "No thanks, I've got one!", to which Marlon laughed and asked Sam what his name was and shook his hand. More details on the event can be found on the Volleyball England website, click here to read more. Sam was on BBC Midlands today this evening and you will be able to catch more of him leading up to the event. |
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Despite the heavy snowfall and clash with half-term holidays making over 20 players unavailable, 'Castle were able to field 3 teams in the Midlands u15 boys championships on Saturday 10th February and retain the title for the fourth successive year! Redhill A had some very impressive players who play with the England Cadets, but 'Castle all round strong unit proved just too strong as they won 25-17, 25-22 in the deciding match to take the title. The B team, made up of u13-14 players excelled themselves with a 1-1 draw versus Redhill A, and the C team made up entirely of u13s played consistent dig-set-spike Volleyball to show that the future is bright! The A team now go forward to the last 8s at Worcester on Sunday 4th March. |
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After months of hard work and the input of a number of coaches the u15 girls A team have made it through to the last 8s of the National u15 girls competition. Despite losing the deciding match of te Midlands Championships held on Sunday 11th February in Wolverhampton versus Tettenhall Tigers 25-17, 25-20 the 'Castle girls can be very pleased with their achievement and with extra training now planned in the build-up to the last 8s on Saturday 3rd March they will hope to do well on the National Stage. Further to the success of the A team, u13-14 girls that made up the B team also played some good 3-touch Volleyball to finish in 3rd place. Thanks to Rach and Ant Viggars for coaching, Bob Cutler for driving the minibus and to all the parents who supported on the day... well done girls! |
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Thanks to the hard work and cooperation between NSVC and Madeley High School, our training hall now has 3 full tensioned-net courts available for use. The means that the hall can be used for hosting a variety of local events and will allow for a number of squads to train alongside each other in a great environment!
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Sunday 4th February saw the first senior local league competition in around a decade with competitions for both ladies and men. The competing teams came from NSVC, MMU Crewe & Alsager, and Keele University. With a four team competition for men and 3 for the ladies. In the ladies competition NSVC finished 1st and 2nd with Keele 3rd, and in the men’s it was ‘Castle A 1st, MMU 2nd, ‘Castle B 3rd and Keele 4th. The event gave plenty of less experienced club members to play some competitive sets and as more young club members move into further and higher education it is hoped that Staff Uni, Fenton 6th Form, Newcastle College and South Cheshire College will enter future events. Sophie Cawdell is pictured left with the trophy for the ladies competition winners: ‘Castle A |
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There were 3 'Castle teams in action on Saturday 13th January, with the action lasing for a full 11 hours! he day started at 9.30am with the under 16 boys 'B' team arriving for a pre-tournament training session, and ending at 8.30pm as the last visitors left after the post match hospitality from Men 1's win over Chester in the Shield. In the course of 7 matches of 6 v 6 Volleyball, 20 sets and over 800 points were scored! |
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The 'Castle men's first team was rocked by a freak training injury to setter Jon Pennock on the eve of the Shield match with Chester and Ellesmere Port Eels. Popular team member Jon's finger was badly broken whilst blocking a back-court attack and he was taken to hospital immediately before being transferred to the hand specialist ward at Derby Royal Infirmary where he was operated on within 12 hours of the incident. All at 'Castle wish Jon the best luck in a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in action by the end of the season. |
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In an exciting day of Volleyball the young under 16 boys 'B' team qualified for the 2nd round of the National u16 boys competition, beating Redhill Stourbridge B, and Chosen Hill of Gloucestershire. The lads are all u14/u13s so this is a great achievement and they played some fantastic 3 touch Volleyball throughout the day, especially under pressure versus the tall 16 year olds of Chosen Hill. The pleasure was written all over the faces of the players as they won the final set 16-14, progressing to take on Redhill Stourbridge A, Cleobury and Madeley Newcastle (Staffs) A on the 20th January, again at Madeley High School. For full results please see the Volleyball England website here |
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The long awaited 'Castle Hoodies are on sale now! The hoodies are navy blue, with green trim and the Newcastle (Staffs) logos embroidered; club badge on left chest, Marangoni logo to left sleeve, club logo the right sleeve, and Staffordshire knot motif on reverse. Available in sizes: S, M, L, XL. To order yours please email bigrod@sky.com |
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The NSVC Christmas party was held on Friday 15th December at the Wheatsheaf Inn at Onneley. It was a sell-out event with 100 club members and their family and friends present, helping to raise around £300 for the club and was a very sociable night! The quiz took centre stage and was keenly contested by so many teams that the tables merged from the function room into the pub itself, and after a fantastic buffet the raffle provided over 30 prizes for members! Thanks for Steph's Fletcher and Desolle for organising the night, Rod Stockwell for coordinating ticket sales and both Margaret Dobell and Karen Lawton for collecting payments!Keep your eyes peeled for the next club event on this website and on your monthly editions of 'Castle news! |
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Following the announcement of 'Castle's engagement with the Step into Sport national youth sports volunteering programme, 'Castle's Volunteer Coordinator Steph Fletcher is pleased to announce that 3 of our young members have received their awards for excellence from Millennium Volunteers for completing 200 hours of volunteer service. Luke Davenport, Sam Allen and Dave Lawton help the club on a weekly basis with coaching, as well as learning the game as players... all three have represented England at either Cadet or Junior level (or both!). As such the three lads provide a fantastic role model for any young player, showing that involvement in sport is about more than just playing. All at NSVC are very proud of the lads' achievement! |
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The first leg of this season's boys grand prix took place on Friday 15th December, at Madeley with 14 teams in action! The lads competed with an adjusted scoring system based on age/ability to provide balance to matches and the u13-u15 competition was fiercely competitive, with scores now being taken forward to the next leg of the event at Easter. This year the u12 boys played the Turkey Tournament as a separate competition and showed how fast they have learned by demonstrating some great 3-touch volleyball... some teams will enter the main competition at Easter! News on the girls event to follow! |
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The City of Stoke-on-Trent 6th Form College boys team has qualified for the British Colleges finals tournament at Loughborough University in April 2007 in devastating fashion, brushing aside all-comers at the Midlands qualifying round at Fenton Manor on Wednesday 6th December. The squad contains a number of players from Newcastle (Staffs) VC, with other team members now looking to join the club! The college’s mixed team has also qualified for the National Finals, where the male players from NSVC are also boosted by girls who also play for the club… we wish both teams the best of luck! |
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Working in partnership with Sport Across Staffordshire (the County Sports Partnership for Staffordshire) and City of Stoke-on-Trent 6th Form College four young club members have been enrolled onto the Step into Sport programme for young volunteers. This government funded sports volunteer development programme will allow Tom Robinson, Dave Lawton, Rachel Copestake and Sam Allen to develop their volunteering skills through a mentored programme and use these skills within NSVC! |
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Former ‘Castle junior player Dan Glover made it to the bench of the Port Vale FC first team on Saturday in their 2-0 home defeat to Swansea City. Only 17 in October, Dan was a member of the u15 boys team that won the National Cup in 2005 and was in the team that lost in the final of the u16 National Cup earlier this year. A talented all round sports-player, Dan was selected for the England Cadets before pursuing his football career as a youth team player at Port Vale soon after April’s National u16 Boys Cup final at the EIS in Sheffield. Everyone at ‘Castle wishes Dan the best of luck in his career, we will watch his progress with great interest. |
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This weekend (18th and 19th November) saw a great weekend for our teams that were in action, with success all round! First of all the U16 girls made it through to the last 16 of the National U16 Championships, beating Wirral 2-1 and losing a very close match to Redhill 2-1. Coached by Simon Jones, the girls were led on court by Rosie Mankee and all players excelled, always playing 3-touch Volleyball. Well done to all the girls involved! The Men's NVL1 team then took to the court and beat early season pace setters City of Bristol 3-2 in a mammoth 2 hour match, leaving the scene set for the Ladies who played two matches in Middlesbrough on Sunday. They beat the hosts 3-2 before taking straight back to the court and beating Wirral 3-0! |
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Newcastle (Staffs) VC has this week received the exciting news that Awards for All, a distributor of National Lottery funds, has accepted our application to support significant further clubdevelopment work. This means that the club will receive £7500 to assist in the development of further community links for ‘Castle, including equipment for schools and courses for teachers, and coach education to support the development of new Volleyball opportunities for disabled young people in North Staffordshire. As Volleyball England’s 2006 Club of the Year, ‘Castle has established itself as one of the country’s most prominent community clubs and with around 200 members playing Volleyball for at least one hour each week. This new injection of funds will support the development of Volleyball opportunities for over 1000 people in North Staffordshire over the coming 12 months! This is an achievement that all club members should take great pride in… if you wish to take part in helping out with this development programme or any other aspect of running/ helping the club please email us at newcastlestaffsvolleyballclub@hotmail.com |
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This season Newcastle (Staffs) VC have benefitted from support from Barclays Bank's community sports scheme 'Spaces for Sports'. The programme was started up with the football foundation and has spread to help other sports. Under this programme the club followed the online guidance provided for the scheme and outlined details of the club's background. With our membership growing year on year we will benefit greatly from the new equipment provided which includes t-shirts, training bibs, court cones, baseball caps, coach jackets, water bottles, umbrellas and drawstring bags... ideal equipment for events ranging from junior training to National League matches... and Pontins to the Gloucester outdoor tournament! |
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Celebrating 50 years of Volleyball in England, the Golden Jubilee Dinner, which followed on from the Big Bash II, was held on May 13th 2006. Newcastle (Staffs) were there to represent the club, with Volunteers of all ages keen to take part and attend the evening celebration and awards ceremony. Awards: Young Volunteer of The Year, Frankie Meli, Putting Volleyball @ Heart, Colin Roberts, Long-Service Award, Margaret Dobell & Dorothy Knight and Young Coach of The Year, Will Roberts. Having come third at the CCPR Awards, Newcastle Staffs were delighted to be announced Volleyball England's Club Of The Year. This is fantastic recognition for the passion and hard work that drives our club. Thank you to all of our members and those that support us! |
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The Central Council for Physical Recreation (CCPR) held their annual Club of The Year Awards in London this year and for the first time a Volleyball Club was selected as a contender, non other than Newcastle Staffs! The club was selected along with 175 other sports clubs from across over 40 other sports. Castle did well and did the Volleyball world proud by coming in at third place! Lord Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association presented Colin Roberts with the award. As a Volley 1 Accredited club, the club was rewarded for it's hard work and development throughout the past year and a positive recognition of Volleyball Clubs in this country. |
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Sitting Volleyball spectacularly entered the consciousness of England’s Volleyball public at the Prosport National Volleyball Cup Finals at the EIS Sheffield. Volleyball England welcomed Volleer, a Sitting Volleyball Team from Holland, who led players from Sheffield VC and juniors from Madeley Newcastle (Staffs) in a crash course of this exciting Paralympic sport. The Dutch team included one player from their National Squad that took the Silver Medal in the Athens 2004 Paralympics and their quality soon rubbed off on all the players involved. For more information about sitting volleyball please visit Volleyball England's Sitting Volleyball pages here. Newcastle (Staffs) Volleyball Club is committed to being an open and inclusive club, providing opportunities for all sectors of the North Staffordshire Community. The club is hopeful that an Awards for All lottery bid, designed to enable us to provide more opportunities in Sitting Volleyball will be awarded this year. This would mean linking into the local Special Schools and encouraging able bodied Volleyball players to sample the Paralympic version of the game. |
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Our U16 boys team, Madeley Newcastle (Staffs), reached the National Cup Finals on the 23rd April 2006 at the EIS in Sheffield. This was a great achievement for the boys who have shown great committment to their Volleyball over the past 2 and a half years since they started playing. The final was lost 16-14 in the fifth set to Boswells of Essex in a high quality match featuring some of the best young players in England. The bulk of the squad has gone forward into the new men's 2nd team in National League Division 3 with some more experienced players supporting their development. |
Sam Allen Represents Volleyball at UK School Games Launch
December 15th 
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newcastlestaffsvolleyballclub@hotmail.com