Volleyball Association of Ireland

Post-Primary Schools National J4 Finals 2006/07 - 10th May '07

The Post Primary Schools National J4 Finals became the 1st ever National J4 Volleyball Finals ever to take place in Ireland and alot of 1st winner labels were up for grabs. In the Girls Cup, Presentation Loughboy, Kilkenny, were winners in a pulsating final match against St. Raphel's Loughrea that had everything in it, including strong hitting and superb defense. The game went to 3 sets, however was only won by a mere 2-points in the end when time ran out. The J4 Girls Cup title becomes the 2nd National title won by Kevin Barragry's Presentation Kilkenny, who also won the Junior A title recently also.

In the Boys Cup, St. Raphael's were also represented in the Finals - twice! Out of their 3 teams that qualified for the Finals, all 3 made it to the Semi Finals, with 2 of them progressing onwards. A vibrant display of volleyball was on show in the Final and also went to 3 sets. The Girls Shield title was won by Mount St. Michael Secondary School from Claremorris, Co. Mayo, who beat St. Raphael's Loughrea in the Final. Despite losing both girls' finals, it was a fantastic debut year in the National Finals for the Raphael's teams.

Primary Schools National J4 Finals 2006/07 - 15th May '07

The first ever National J4 Volleyball Primary School Finals took place on May 15th in the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre in Tipperary Town. The road to competing in the National Finals involved qualification from County and Regional Finals that were held earlier in the year in three categories of competition, boys, girls and mixed. A total of 5 teams in each category of competition qualified from three regions, South, East and West Regions. With teams from all over the country taking part a very exciting day of competition was about to unfold. The format of the finals involved teams in each category playing a round robin competition to determine pool placings. With 5 teams in each pool, the top 4 would qualify for semi finals with the 5th placed team exiting the competition. With all teams in contention for National titles the action was fast paced and the atmosphere in the hall electric from the very start.

In the Girls Cup, there were teams from Galway, Kerry, Tipperary, Kildare and Roscommon battling it out for top honours. The Loughrea Stars were the most consistent over the first round and looked to be the team to beat as they finished their pool in first place without losing a game. St Mary’s Tigers and Ayle Tigers also scored well in the first round and comfortably took 2nd and 3rd place respectively, earning semi final placing. The final semi final place was only determined by the last first round match between Ardfert Eagles from Kerry and St Pat’s Wildcats from Kildare which proved to be a very exciting contest. The Ardfert Eagles had failed to find their good form in their earlier matches but turned on the style in this crucial game to gain the last semi final place which would pitch them against the pool toppers The Loughrea Stars. The two semi finals were very closely contested, however only two teams could progress and The Ardfert Eagles and St Mary’s Tigers overcame their opponents to make up the line up for the first ever Girls Cup Final. The girl’s final was a fitting conclusion to a very exciting day. The Ardfert Eagles appeared to be in control taking the first set and an early lead in the second set; however the Roscommon team were not giving up and fought back admirably to level the match 1 set all. The 3rd and deciding set was nail biting action with both teams playing at their best. The Ardfert Eagles began to pull away mid way through the set and with the Cup in their sights they stormed ahead and finished out the match 2 sets to 1 to become crowned the First J4 Girls All Ireland Champions.

In the Mixed Cup, the teams competing were from schools in Waterford, Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Laois. The Ardfert Sharks from Kerry dominated the 1st round proceedings winning all their matches to come out top of their pool. The Gaelscoil Smashers from Waterford were also looking like strong contenders only dropping one match in their opening round. The remaining semi final placings were made up by The Rock Diggers from Laois and The Galway Sharks who too displayed some good Volleyball skills to earn their semi final spot. After two thrilling semi finals The Gaelscoil Smashers and the Ardfert Sharks were successful in reaching the Finals. Another closely fought final ensued. The Ardfert Sharks took the 1st set and in the 2nd set the score was neck on neck all the way through with the Ardfert Sharks just having the edge at the end. They took top prize winning the Mixed Cup.

The Boy's Cup had teams from Kerry, Kildare, Cork, Roscommon and Galway. The Ardfert Smashers from Kerry showed their strength early coming out in top place after the 1st round. St Pat’s Underdogs did stop them in their tracks in the early round by drawing in their game, denying them top pool points. This result ensured 2nd place in the pool for St Pat’s despite losing an earlier game to Cork team Grattan St Thunderbolts who too put in some good performances in the early part of the day finishing 3rd in the pool. The Creagh Slammers from Galway completed the semi final line up. There was great skill and spirit evident in both semi final encounters, with each team attacking the ball very well and pushing their opponents to the limit. Ardfert Smashers and St Pat’s Underdogs played their best Volleyball to progress to the final and set up a great contest for the title. Neither team had managed to overturn the other in the earlier pool game; however a winner had to be determined in this Final of the competition. The Ardfert Smashers proved to be too strong, despite some great play by St Pat’s, and took the match and the title 2 sets to 0.

It was a fantastic achievement by Ardfert NS in Kerry winning all three National titles. Congratulations to them and to all the participating teams who all contributed immensely to make this event so memorable. It was a great showcase for J4 Volleyball in its debut year of National Competition and we hope the start of a long involvement in the sport by all involved. We look forward to seeing all the schools back in action next year and indeed hope to welcome many new schools into the competition.

Final Standings: