Freezone Volleyball Club

Hi Community Partners,

I hope you are all well.

This year we are running the 2021 Gay Asian Men’s Survey (GAMS) entirely online due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and the inability to recruit participants with peers in bars and venues.

This means that we are reaching out to all of our community partners to ask that you please help us with this recruitment process by sharing the 2021 GAMS across your social media platforms.

The 2021 GAMS has a strong focus on culture, race and migration in relation to Asian Gay Men’s sexual health.  Eligible participants have a chance to win one of ten $100 gift cards. 

English: https://unsw.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_71VLFBT7iSev9Qh

You can find ACON’s most recent Facebook post about the GAMS here: https://www.facebook.com/ACONAsianGayMensHealth/posts/4202230296494944

For more info about the study, please visit the study website. 

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/nsw-volleyball-scoring-workshops-2021-tickets-148573474261

NSWVRA are hosting FREE scoring workshops to sharpen your scoring skills.

Scoring is not only an essential part of being a competent referee, but also critical for all teams when assigned to do duty.

Correctly filling out a scoresheet will ensure all information on the scoresheet is accurately recorded by event organisers, and in turn, ensures all teams are allocated the correct number of competition points, scores and overall set/point ratios.

Build your confidence in completing a scoresheet by signing up to one of our FREE scoring clinics today!

DATES: Sunday 9^th, 16^th & 23^rd May

TIMES: See LINK

LOCATION:

Netball Central

1 Olympic Boulevard

Sydney Olympic Park, NSW 2127

Share this with your friends and family. Spots are limited. If we get more requests, we will open up more workshops.

Regional Clubs, if this is something that interests you please let us know and we will see what we can make happen. Especially if its around one of our events further in the year.

Regards

Briianka Nest

Head of Events

Volleyball New South Wales

Sports House, Quad 1, level 2/8 Parkview Drive

Sydney Olympic Park NSW 2127

MOB +61 (0) 403 802 314  

E. briianka.nest@volleyballnsw.com.au

W. www.volleyballnsw.com.au

When? – This Sunday – April 11 (after volleyball) @ 7 p.m.

Where? – The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville.

Why? – So that Freezone can shout our members a drink……. those who were born in January, February or March. The rest of you can buy your own… you’ll get shouted when it’s your birthday!!!!!!

Who? – Everyone

It is with great regret that I inform you that Freezone will not be hosting it’s Mardi Gras Mixer tournament this year. We will, however be looking at alternatives later in the year, should Covid-19 restrictions ease and allow us to do so.

Personally, I have always looked forward to this tournament to start off the year and this will be the first time I have not had an opportunity to participate since moving to Sydney in 2006. The decision was not made lightly, but we had to put the health and safety of our members, players, officials and staff first.

Please “stay tuned” as restrictions change/ease , because the Freezone Board will be putting something on as soon as humanly possible.

Hey there all members and guests of members!

December 20

11 a.m.

(South) Maroubra Beach

Beach volleyball competition

Pizza

Soft drinks and water

Free for members

$10 for others

Fun and frivolity

https://www.redribbonappeal.org.au/

December 1 was World AIDS Day, and as part of Freezone’s support of ACON and their dedication to ending HIV, Stuart Mackay, Louis Eudo and Mark Bennett attended ACON’s Red Bingay last Thursday night. Just from one night of laughter, frivolity and our little table of 3 winning 2 games – ACON raised $1800 to help them combat stigma, indifference and discrimination against those who have HIV. ACON also works tirelessly to educate and support all people living in the LGBTI community throughout both rural and metropolitan parts of New South Wales.

The Red Ribbon Appeal is ACON’s annual fundraising appeal and I urge all those reading this to please donate what you can and hep ACON to continue to do their amazing, necessary and ongoing work.

https://www.redribbonappeal.org.au/

https://www.acon.org.au/

https://www.virtualredribbon.org.au/

Freezone Volleyball is very pleased to announce our new head coach for 2019 Massimiliano Gubbiotti. ‘Max’ has a long history of coaching representative sides in junior and senior leagues in his native Italy and has been doing this since 2005. His recent move to Australia has seen him continue his passion for volleyball and begin to work with the local beach and indoor community.

Max moved to Australia in 2018 with his new family and has settled in Manly where he has had a lot of involvement with the professional beach circuit as well as local juniors teams. He currently trains the Sydney Grammar School volleyball teams and will be taking on the Freezone State Squad for the Mid Term season in 2019.

Max has a long history in Italy of coaching at the juniors level and being assistant coach to the elite U18’s and Men’s League for the Volley Group Roma, Alpi and Talete Volley Teams. He has already had local experience coaching the Sydney Amazons AVL team in 2016-17 as well as the Japanese and Italian Beach Volley Teams in 2017-18.

Max will be leading the new Mid Term Season of the State Squad for Freezone Volleyball at our new venue Perry Park Recreation Centre. This term will be focused on consolidating the training and game strategy work as well as developing players for the S1 and S2 Tournament schedules. This 10 week Mid Term Season aims to keep the momentum of our Div1/2 players and is a new initiative for the club.

All club members are encouraged to tryout for the Mid Term Squad where we will be offering 20 places to persons wishing to play at the Div 1/2 level. Registrations can be made online and the tryouts are on 11th June at 6:30pm at Perry Park Recreation Centre, corner of Bourke and Maddox St, Alexandria.

Just as an FYI – there will be no Sunday training this week – due to Easter. See you the week after, however…… If you are travelling, we hope it’s a safe journey. If you aren’t, then stay safe here in Sydney as well!

Please remember to pay your SVNSW so that you are covered to play in the range of tournaments and competitions that affiliates run in Sydney and around the state.

http://www.nswvolleyball.com/members/individual-membership

You need to register through the Fortix system on the SVNSW website above.

Enjoy the time off – no training this Sunday. We’ll be back again on the first Sunday in February. 3/2/19. See you then!!!!

Freezone Volleyball wishes everyone a happy and safe December and we will start afresh in January 2019. Stay tuned to the website as well as the FB page –   https://www.facebook.com/freezonevolleyball/  for tournaments, training sessions, competitions, social events and more to make next year our busiest and best ever!

The State Squad Term 2 for 2018 has been named and we have a wonderful returning compliment of players rejoining with some new faces coming along as well.

The tryouts were a great affair with some new people coming along and showing their hand for the program.  With only one tryout Coach Marie was really looking to combine people and get them playing alongside each other.  The impressive thing was having a few of our female players coming along for the tryouts – very encouraging for furthering the program into 2019.

The level of volleyball on offer for this, the 3rd term of the State Squad program was a wonderful offering and the focus of the participants as well as the level of volleyball was notably higher, more intense and had a real purpose to it.  With any program it’s important to see it building and growing with participants and skill level and the tryouts are showing that this is the case.

This term the squad is trying something different and going with a full compliment of 18 full players.  The ‘tournament subs’ are still on offer but the increase in participants is to give the squad some real depth and allow Coach Marie to apply a ‘bench’ to the game situation.  This will allow for being able to play the best possible team at any one time and gain a better understanding of specialist positions and optimal fitness of the players over an entire tournament and season.

The program for this year will take in 3 tournaments and 9 weeks of intense training.  New President Mark Bennett is actively supervising proceedings alongside Coach Marie and we are also seeing the introduction of a new assistant coach – Kelly McLeod to the mix.  Kelly will be on hand to assist Head Coach Marie in her duties and tournament responsibilities.

We look forward to seeing what the new squad offers for 2018.

On September 9th, the Freezone AGM was held and saw a new committee elected to lead Freezone Volleyball to 2020 and beyond.

It was a well populated affair with 2 Life Members in attendance as well as some new and fresh faces on the floor.  The Presidents Report was submitted by Mdm President, Peter Furness in his final report as President.  The report outlines a highly successful year for Freezone with 3 tiered training programs, securing new venues for 2019, a healthy representation of teams across multiple events and a continuing and growing relationship with our primary sponsor as well as growing the sponsorship portfolio to include local business’.  A growing membership has maxed out again this year and the club stands to solidly continue to grow and offer diverse programs in the coming year.

Treasurer Rafael Montellanos presented his final financial report as Treasurer as after 3 years, he will not be re-nominating for the coming year.  The fiscal health of the club is back to a solid performance with a consistent growth and financial standing for the 2018FY showing a secure platform for the financial operations of the club with the club giving significant increases in social activities and sponsorship funding of players unrivalled in the previous years of the club.

Nominations were called for all board positions and for the first time in possibly 12 years, there were multiple nominations from the floor with a ‘vote’ having to be held to secure new positions.  This was a new occurence and the Chairperson was ‘shocked’ and a little perplexed as to exactly what had to be done.  However it was wonderful to have so many people putting their hands up for Committee positions including a new position being created – that being Vice President.

At the conclusion of the event, a new President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, Venue Co-Ordinator, Teams Co-ordinator and Community Officer were all nominated as well as returning members from 2018 in the Events and Sponsorship roles.

• President:  Mark Bennett
• Vice President:  Stuart Mackay
• Secretary:  Laura Barkly
• Treasurer:  Andrew Wilmot
• Sponsorship Officer:  Anderson Vago
• Teams Co-ordinator:  Fernando Araujo
• Venue Co-ordinator:  Felix Eistrup-Santos
• Events Co-ordinator:  Louis Eudo
• Community Officer:  Jeffrey Montellanos

We wish the new committee well and would like to thank those departing the committee for their hard years of work and commitment in the Executive Roles.

Late July saw many of the Freezone crew getting excited and prepared as they began to make their way to Europe for the 10th Gay Games in Paris, France.  A number of teams and individuals from Freezone have been planning for this quadrennial event for some months so there was a great deal of excitement brewing as the days finally arrived to head to the French capital in preparation for this massive event.

Over 10,000 athletes had registered for the Games so the hype was huge and the vibe was electric.  The volleyball competition was scheduled to run for 5 days with 2 days of pool play, followed by a double elimination round after that and finals being played on the Friday.

The Commandos, the Mecca Studs, Sydney Phoenix were all registered Sydney teams  in B grade and there were also participants in the Melbourne/Sydney Itchy Bitchy and Team United players in B grade and again in BB with Kaiata.

Paris was almost burning with scorching temperatures predicted for the weeks play and the Gymnase Louis-Lumiere was not a breezy venue.  With 120 volleyballers packed into 6 courts, it was heavy going for the opening days of play and plenty of sweat was exuded.

It was however, wonderful at one point to look across the stadium and see 3 Freezone teams all competing side by side at this international competition.  Many fard fought matches were concluded and at the end of the pool play Freezone teams were ranked in 4th/7th and 9th positions.  It was a case of running from court to court to try and get a glimpse of all the Freezoners in action.

FZ COMMANDOS

SYDNEY PHOENIX

TEAM ITCHY BITCHY

MECCA STUDS

The Mecca Studs had arrived in Europe a week before the games to get used to the climate and do some real ‘bonding’ time. The crew from the 2010 Cologne Gay Games were still going with one/two (a few) extra people joining the crew for this edition. Pool Play was very much about trying to find a groove, working with a new setter, Roberto Scarano and then piecing together a strategy with a team that was having their first hit-out.   The Studs pool were strong and we had some tough matches but managed to find some good form and finish in 7th position after pool play.

The Studs then found themselves up against good teams, including a revenge match against the Swiss team that had beaten them earlier in the week.  They managed to get over the line against them and found themselves in the Top 8 without having moved to the losers bracket.  Finals day arrived and it was a tough call against the strong Melbourne Peacocks who hadn’t dropped a game all tournament to stay in the winners bracket.  After losing to Melbourne it was sudden death – against the Sydney Peacocks.  One set, instant elimination.  Studs were down but Coach Marie (secret weapon) stepped up and changed defence lines and geared up the team to bring the celebratory attitude which ultimately saw them come from behind against Phoenix and win the set 25/22.

The next match was against the United team that had some Freezone talent in there.  Another tough game but the serving and ‘W defence’ worked well and enabled the Studs to ‘come from behind again’ as they ran away to a 25/21 victory.  The medal match loomed, with Studs having to defeat the Brazilian Miami crew to get into the gold medal match against Peacocks on Friday.  A tired and spent crew fought amiably but couldn’t quite close out the final set losing 20/25.  The crew were so elated though, having fought incredibly hard with injuries aplenty and ageing bodies, the thrill of coming together and bonding with each other on court and never losing focus made the Studs feel like they had won a gold!  Bronze was just as sweet!

 

Our State Squad Div 2 team played alongside the Purple Reign in their 4th State Cup for this season.  It was a good first day with some good wins and a good solid start to their campaign.  The team gelled well having yet another different line up for their season with libero super star ‘Zach” Fu Sheng Hsu stepping into the line up alongside Felix, Stuart, JM, Big Willy, Carl.

The 2nd day saw a tougher day and some injury issues forced the Blue’s to reshuffle their line up and substitute a setter to come in for their medal playoff.  It was a hard call with regulations preventing a sub at first but then having the chance to sub in a rogue setter from the Honours Women’s division.  With a new setter it took a little while for everyone to get used to new hands but the team put up a great fight against some other Freezoners playing in the Miss Thailand team.  The bronze medal playoff was a harder affair with Felix Eistrup standing into the setters position after an injured Carl Pahina had to retire.  It was a hard fought affair where the Div 2 team performed admirably but were just edged out by of their 4th medal finish for the State Squad opening term. Not a bad record!

The Div 1 team came into the competition with a new group – again!  With a new recruit in Dan Devine, the core crew of Lucas, Anderson, Robertas, Fernando, Samuel and Peter looked a little like a mini Brazil.  The boys had some tough games but it was a great start out as the crew found form against teams that they had met in earlier competitions.  The scoreboard revealed close games of 25/22, 25/23, 27/25- the Div 1 boys had obviously found their rhythm.  Mdm President Pete filled in the libero position and we had some height in our middles as well as some wonderful slide attacks from our resident Lithuanian Robertas.

The 2nd day saw the crew come in with determination and Coach Marie pushed forward her agenda of early starts, 30min warmups and shuttle runs to make sure the boys were switched on and ready.  A narrow loss to the UTS crew put the boys out of any chance of making medals however, the last game against ASIMS saw the crew bringing a performance that was much needed.  A solid 2 set win against the tought ASIMS boys was a great way for the crew to finish on and a real determination to continue training for the coming interval period between State Squads.

The Central Coast State Cup is the start of a very busy period for the Autumn of 2018 that sees a flurry of tournaments in various locations up until the start of Sydney Volleyball League in May 2018.

Our new State Squad took off to the Peninsula Leisure Centre in Woy Woy and the Scholastic Sports Stadium in Terrigal to compete in the Div 2 and Div 1 competitions on the first weekend in April.  With Coach Marie Skelton in tow the crew were coming together for the first time with new players joining the squad including some returning blood for Freezone back into the club.

2 days of competition and some very competitive pools formed up for the 2 days of play over the weekend and both teams had the chance to come together for the first time and play ‘tournament volleyball’.

FZ White had  steady start that was ever increasing over the first days play.  Communication between new players is always key when it comes to playing for the first time, especially at this level, where a few missed points makes all the difference in momentum and game play.  Just knowing who is precisely going to be in charge of getting that rogue ball or who is running exactly what play is the element that has to be figured out when you are new and each new set saw the boys finding their feet.  50min goes very quickly when you are finding your feet.  The FZ White team rallied and Coach Marie tried numerous different combinations and rotations with everyone playing different positions to find the best fit.  By the 3rd game the combinations were beginning to work and the Whites had their first ‘win’ of the day.

On the second day the boys came out firing and close sets were the result.  A win over the Housecats was a great confidence booster moving into the final pool game against UNSW.  Unfortunately the UNSW was marred with a loss of our Middle Hitter Dion Ofa.  A slippery floor saw Dion hit the ground and a broken ankle was the result.  Dion in true fashion was very nonchalant about it all but he was taken to hospital and then has been transferred to Concord in preparation for surgery on Thursday. We wish him a speedy recovery.

FZ Blue were the success story of the weekend.  Their campaign was a star studded performance on paper, not dropping a set in their pool games and leading to the top of the pool.  They had some stiff competition in some matches but managed to hold their nerve and their skill as they blitzed the competition. There were some tight games that allowed them to figure out how best to rely on each other and find that competitive drive and aggression that is advantageous to the game.  Finishing their final game on the first day they were full of confidence but aware that they would have to win their semi to have the easiest path to the finals.

The second day saw the boys come out fighting in their semi final and take a solid lead which they consolidated to move straight into the gold medal match later in the afternoon.  The final against UNSW was going to be a thriller and it didn’t disappoint.  The cheer squads were out and the calibre of volleyball on both sides of the court had some impressive depth.  The first set was tight after a shaky start from our boys which saw them 6 points down, but after fighting back to an even points at 15 all, FZ Blue got a good lead late in the set due to some great serving from Charlie Pahina and Stuart Mackay and solid attacking from Felix Eistrup and JM Montellano to take the set convincingly. 

The 2nd set was a tougher gig and once again a few service errors and solid attacking from the other side of the net saw the Blues drop to a 7 point deficit.  A big fight to come back, but they did manage to peg back the lead to a few points but were ultimately unable to overcome some very impressive middle hitting from UNSW.  The stage was set for an ultimate 3rd set  and both camps were ‘geed’ up and ready to go.  It was literally point for point for much of the set with FZ reaching a 8-7 lead to change ends with the lead.  UNSW came out hard and then looked set to get away with the win with more solid Middle hitting and a 14-10 lead.  It was all or nothing and Coach Marie was constantly coaxing the lads to ‘not be timid’ and bring out all the stops.  FZ Blue set up good defence and the refusal to let the ball drop saw them win the next 4 points to bring it to a 14-14 tie.

It was hot, it was tight and it was a very loud gym!  UNSW were sending everything to their Outside hitter but the blocking from Blue was efficient enough to slow the play down and keep the points going.  A deep set to the outside that flew into the net from the hitter brought the Blues victory 16-14 in the third. The team were elated and ecstatic and the victory high was a great start to the season for the blues.  We are super proud of their achievement and hope they can take this feeling into the season all the way through to Newcastle.

The next tournament will be the Manly Cup in late April.  Both teams will again line up and be ready and more cohesive having played this first tournament together.  Coach Marie will no doubt be formulating some impressive training for the boys leading up the next tournament and we look forward to the next chance to prove ourselves.

It was all things RAINBOW at Netball Central on 24th February as Freezone took over the venue in a blaze of rainbow coloured greatness.  We had a fantastic return to the merriment of our Mardi Gras theme with a great day where everyone got into the spirit of the LGBTQI community and supporting our Mardi Gras Mixer

To all the players & supporters who played, we appreciate your continued support of our tournaments. Freezone Volleyball Club has always had one of its aims as encouraging players from all levels & experiences to enjoy volleyball and play together – and we achieved this again last Saturday. 

 The LGBQTI friendly event was conducted in the best spirit of good sportsmanship and great competition for all of the matches. Here is a snapshot of the day by numbers …. 4455 minutes of volleyball, 230+ players,  80+ matches,  30 teams, 10kg of pears, 6 boxes of apples, 9 courts and 5 divisions of match play. 

It was quite a task getting the draw in order as the highly sought after venue was being shared between 3 sporting groups, but we managed to still complete a full day of play including our womens draw who bandied together and played 4 hours of volleyball straight over 2 courts to ensure they had a competition.

 Freezone we would like to again congratulate the gold medal teams from each division who all played lots of great volleyball throughout the day and also recognise the efforts of the MVP award winners as well.   But truly it was wonderful to have everyone playing volleyball in such a warm friendly and FABULOUSLY FURTIVE way on the day.  Our rainbow themed uniforms were wondeful

It was particularly wonderful to have 4 teams of our Melbourne Spikers Sisters in the competition and who travelled down for the event.  Special thanks to Volleyball Victoria for their assistance in ensuring we were able to accommodate our sister club in such numbers.  It was great to have so many ‘SPIKERS’ at the day and we hope you continue to come back in all your glitterati glory.

Special thanks to the committee (Mark, Louis, Andrew, Rafael, Stuart and Felix) who worked throughout the day to tirelessly ensure that the games ran smoothly.  I think it was an achievement for the first year ever that we were actually 5min AHEAD OF TIME in the afternoon sessions.  (Someone got a little trigger happy on the hooter).  A big thank you also to Somkhit Jartnoi for his help with the fruit and Wororat Chumsuwan for arranging our fabulous MARDI GRAS MEDALS.  I would also like to thank all the members of Freezone and those helpers who came early and helped us with duties and assisting with net changes throughout the day.  It really was a wonderful team effort!

A big shout out to our volunteers (Jamie, Lilly, Israel, Gareth, Laurent and Fernando) who ensured we had an extra duty crew to help run the womens competition.  A club is only as good as its volunteers and we are so grateful for your time and energy.  Also a big thank you to our referees who came to adjudicate our finals.

Of course, the tournament wouldn’t run without our primary sponsor ACON and their help in ensuring our club keeps on moving forward.  We are always grateful for the involvement of Gavin and the crew at ACON for their help.

Big shout outs to Australian Volleyball Warehouse, Officeworks Glebe, Mecca Espresso, Taylors Wines and Struddy’s Sports for their kind and generous donations to our tournament as tournament sponsors.  We hope everyone visits the links on the website to get supplies from those who support us.

We were so thrilled to have such a wonderful turnout and on a personal note, it was such a great tournament to have as my final tournament as President of the club.  What a wonderful way to go out!

We look forward to hosting everyone back in our September SPRING FLING which we hope to make bigger and bring even more fabulousness with it.  But save your rainbow crew for next year as we go for gold again with our Mardi Gras Theme.

RESULTS

Men’s A

Gold  – The Dingo Ate My Purse   /   Silver  –  ACERS  /  Bronze – Spiked Punch

MVP – Justin St Pierre

Women’s

Gold – United /  Silver – Acers / Bronze – Cherries On Top

MVP – Paolo Delpino

Mixed

Gold – Team Merry  /  Silver – MFS Pugs  /  Bronze – Phi Pho Epho

MVP – Andrew Nguyen

Men’s B

Gold – T-Birds / Silver –  Blue Jays / Bronze – Sydney Phoenix

MVP – Rata Joseph

Recreational

Gold – Acers Ikemen / Silver –  Acers 5 / Bronze – Acers 4

MVP – Jayvee Davin Shinjiro

The sun shone and the rain stayed away on December 3 for the Freezone Annual Christmas Picnic and Awards Ceremony.  A healthy gathering of Freezoners assembled in the Moore Park BBQ area opposite the Sydney Boys High School on Sunday Dec 3 for a day of feasing, frivolity and a little bit of recognition of our most iconic persons for the year.

Louis Eudo once again provided a wide array of foods with a distinct ‘white theme’ to cater for the appetites of all the Freezoners and once again there was ‘food for days’.  A great way to celebrate the end of the 2017 volleyball year.

The lawn court went up and a great day of sunny volleyball was enjoyed well into the afternoon even as the heat began to intensify.  As always, refreshments were on hand to quell any thirst or dehydration.  It was also wonderful to have friends and family members coming along and sharing in the day with all our diversity, inclusion and crazy antics.

It was wonderful to have our Life Members present including the original Freezoner – Barry Webb accompanied by Daniel Grossi in attendance.  Freezone’s 40something year history was well represented and we were very grateful for Barry and Dan coming along.

The awards for 2017 were handed out by Mdm President Furness after first acknowledging the hard work done by the committee for 2017.  Stuart Mackay, Rafael Montallanos, Louis Eudo, Mark Bennett, Andrew Wilmott, Jeffrey So and our General Officer and Grand Pooh Baa – Somkhit Jartnoi.  A club is only as good as it’s volunteers and it is a blessing to have such people giving up their time and investing their energy into the club the whole year round to constantly keep the club evolving.

Our awards recipients for the year were a deserving bunch and it is always a pleasure to highlight the contributions of club members and give them some recognition.

Premier Awards:  Each recipient receives annual Freezone Membership to Freezone Volleyball

Best Newbie – Fernando Peres.  Fernando definetly has a passion for volleyball and after only a short time with the club, he’s been very active joining any team he can for whatever tournament including away tournamnets and also in attending fundraising events and keeping Freezone’s identity out in the community.

Most Improved – Brian Chase-Olsen.  Brian has been avidly attending tournaments over the past few months and demonstrating that he has been listening during our Wednesday night Open Trainings.  His performance at the recent Adelaide Spikers Tournament showed just how much he has progressed since starting with Freezone in 2016 and we are very happy to see him developing his knowledge and experience on court.

Supporters Award – Dayle Bennett

Whilst Dayle may not be a playing member of Freezone, he is very much a part of the Freezone Family.  Dayle is always present at Freezone functions and has regulalry helped out at Tournaments behind the desk and from being on hand to provide support.  This contribution is so valuable to a club and is worth recognising.

Prestige Awards:  Each recipient receives annual Freezone Membership along with registration with SVNSW paid for by the club.

Best Freezoner – Felix Eistrup.   It’s almost strange to think of Freezone not having had the benefit of Felix’s charm, wit and banter for the past 4 years.  Felix regularly attended tournaments playing with FZ teams and also brought his teams from Brisbane along to participate.  Since moving to Sydney 18 months ago, Felix has brough a wo

nderfully friendly face to our regular sessions and has been a part of many teams including the newly formed State Squad.  His willingness to offer support and bring peopel to the club has been constant and he is always around attending events and sponsored activities.  A worth recipient of this award.

Most Valuable Player- Dudley Birch  Dudley has been part of the Freezone crew for many years, playing with our treasured SPIKED PUNCH crew at tournaments at the local and State level.  Even with the new responsibilities of being a Dad, Dudley has maintained a presence and is always around to be part of teams and push to compete at tournaments and represent the club.  An adaptable and versatile player, he contributes to any game and is always a welcoming and encouraging player.

Presidents Award – Jeffrey So Jeffrey has been a prominent Freezoner for over 143+years representing the club at the local, state and international level with 4 Gay Games under his belt.  Jeffrey has served on numerous committees as Secretary, Socail Co-ordinator and most recently as Sponsorship officer, maintaining much needed connection with our primary sponsor ACON as well as recruiting new sponsorships for tournaments and the club in general.  Jeffrey’s work spans many years of contribution and whilst not the loudest presence, he has always worked in the background ensuring the success of Freezone as a club and as an organisation.  Recognition of his many years of contribution, Jeffrey is a most valuable recipient of this award.

The annual VACT Good Neighbour Tournament was held over the 25th/26th November in Canberra and it was as usual, a large scale event that saw over 4 teams of Freezoners competing at the Australian Institute of Sport.  2 full days of volleyball action and lots of ups and downs and triumphs for all Freezone teams but a wonderful representation of the cluh at the largest Volleyball Tournament in Australia.

The State Squad were eagerly represented by new look FZ Blue/Red teams with new players being added at the last minute to fill in for spaces that were left vacant at the last minute.  Coach Marie was scrambling to try and fill positions and have full teams for the competition and was nearly forced to resort to combining the teams.  Thankfully a few eager players were able to volunteer and two full teams were lodge.  FZ Red competed in Division 2 amongst a very strong pool and experienced teams.   The Division 2 was the most popular division with 18 teams in the draw and FZ Red acquitted themselves very well with a strong performance in the pools at the beginning of the competition.  At the outset they were competitive and perhaps a little slow to get off the mark, they dropped a set against the team from Kelso who actually ended up winning the pool and progressing to the finals.

It showed how you cannot afford to take the pressure off in any game as the Reds were left feeling that they should really have won that game outright.  Their position on Day 2 was 3rd but they only lost one game in the pool play section. Their crossover game was against a tough team from UNSW.  The game was  a to and fro affair with 8-8 in the third set when the whistle blow.  Unfortunately for Red, they lost by 1 point on a point count-back but certainly did themselves proud by putting together good combinations and working hard to maintain their level of play at this level.  Sensible play and hard fought rallying worked for them in the end and you could see the consolidation of training that has come from the past 10 weeks of squad training under Coach Marie.

Division 3 was a Freezone Favourite with Free Punch (combination of Free Spirit and Spiked Punch) competing alongside FZ Blue from the State Squad.  Both teams had strong performances Finishing 2nd and 1st respectively in their pools.  Indeed it was an all Freezone Semi Final with the two teams facing off to try and make it to the Gold medal final.   It was a to and fro affair in the final which was hard fought with FZ Blue almost taking the match out in the 2nd set only to have Free Punch claw their way back into the game and force the match into a third set.  The final set was a test of who had the legs to finish strong and it was a new look FZ Blue that triumped strongly in the end as they got away to an early lead and just kept the momentum up and finished looking VERY strongly in the 3rd set.

The gold medal final saw FZ Blue come up against the ACERS from Sydney with a very strong, young and competitive team in the gold medal match.  This was definetly FZ Blue’s day.  It was most exciting to be sitting court-side and watching this game as both teams (and their cheer sq

uads) were in full voice with a battle of wills as much as a battle of volleyball.  The Blues knew they had to play hard and strong in this game if they were going to challenge the “Filo team”.  It was obvious from the outset that Blue had to maintain a positive mindset and not let the loss of points get to them.  This they achieved with great aplomb.  Despite often being outmatched in skill, the Blues held fast and played their own game, passing incredibly well which allowed them to run good offensive play.  A real deciding factor.  They took the first set in a flurry of strong, accurate serving, great scrambling and crushing offensives from all 3 positions in the front court.  They certainly shook the other team who quickly realised that this was not going to be an easy win.

Both teams came out in the next set firing and the passion on both sides of the net was palpable.  It was a rapid to and fro affair with ACERS taking out the set and bringing the game into an even set.  The game ensued with players from each side having to dive and dig deep in an effort to keep the ball alive and in play.  Dips and troughs ensued and team spirit was the one thing that kept everyone going.  The fitness of the crew proved a vital asset, with no subs to call on, every player in the FZ team had to continue to dig deep to keep the momentum.  Laughter and chanting became a big part of the crews ability to suck it in and keep digging.  The final result saw Acers take the GOLD but the FZ crew felt so elated and excited and blessed with having performed a gruelling and wonderfully fulfilling game for a silver medal.

The end of the tournament saw some great performances and happy faces.  The club was once again very well represented and received the accolades of having competed intensly over the 2 days.  As always it was a long and weary drive back to Sydney in preparation for the end of the year.  The crew certainly did well and we look forward to another great year in 2018 for the State Squad and the club in general.