STROUD played hosts to the fifth-round the South West Junior Volleyball Tournament at Stratford Park.

The tournament is an event series for 11 – 14 year olds. The competition is designed to be accessible to all young players irrespective of their standard in order to promote the game of volleyball. The game is played in small sided games, two-v-two or three-v-three, using badminton courts and low nets.

Thirteen boys’ and girls’ teams ranging from U11 to U15 formed three mixed groups for round-robin games. The teams came from as far as Bournemouth, Plymouth, Taunton, Wootton Basset, Bristol and host club Stroud.

Stroud entered an U15 boys team comprising of Michael and Daniel and Zac. This was their second tournament in the U15 boys' group.

All games in this four-team group were fiercely contested, but the Wessex team from Bournemouth were the strongest team, winning all six of their games. The Stroud team won three of their remaining four games and drew one placing them in second position.

Stroud Volleyball Club coach Tasos Zodiates said: "We are proud to host this tournament for the first time and promote volleyball to our area. Many parents and their children visiting the leisure centre stopped and watched the games and hopefully they may consider taking the sport up."