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inter Corps competition. It was great to see all the Corps teams, both male and female, attending. I got opportunity to play for the AMS female team. Before the competition started the AMS did 2 days of team training. For the first game I was nervous, it had been 15 years since I last played in a competition, my heart was beating faster and faster, however I had a great experience. I was able to catch up with people I had completed phase 1 with, which was awesome, and I learned a lot about volleyball and about different trades in the Army. Although we did not win the tournament, coming second is not bad and as a bonus, following this I was selected to play for the Army team.
The second competition was the inter services - Army, Navy, and RAF, where male, female and mixed team compete. A mixed team must have three males and three females on the court. For the game against the Navy, held in Portsmouth, I played in the mixed team, where we were the winning side. The game against the RAF was held
in Aldershot, for this I played in the Female team in a back row defence position. This competition was very tough with the Army and RAF teams having professional players who have played for years and years, I was so scared that I might let the team down, but I shouldn’t have worried as the Army female team won too!
Now to my third volleyball competition, which was very exciting! This was the Crown Services competition, as the name suggests the teams here were from organisations that serve the crown. This year there were teams from the police, prison service, RAF (plus
their development team), the Navy and of course the Army. Before this competition, the Army team completed a 5-day training camp in Aldershot and the competition itself was held over the weekend at Guildford Surrey Sports Centre. Again, the programme was already devised and distributed to us on the Monday morning. This time they had booked the swimming pool as part of the programme, it was such a relief to go into the water after training and relax our bodies. They had also included a yoga session on the Friday, with a professional instructor,
to relax our bodies and minds before the competition. For the whole event we did everything as a group meaning we got to know each other well which is one of the reasons team sports are so much fun. This time I was selected to play for the mixed team as this competition is tough with most of the female teams having professional players, so a little above my current level. What was lovely this time was the amount of support the teams brought with them,
for me that included my family. My husband and kids came to cheer us on, and my
kids especially really enjoyed watching
the games. This time the Army male and female teams were overall winners with
the Army mixed team coming second in that category, it came down to the final set! After the Crown Services Competition, a party is always held by the organises which allows for all the teams to mixed in a social environment.
So, do you think I will continue with volleyball next year? Yes, of course! Not only did I get to play a sport I loved, with professional coaching, I got the opportunity to bond with new people from all areas of the military and have taken a new friendship group away with me. Whatever sport you are into I would recommend you look to
see what the Army are doing for it as I can guarantee for most sports there will be something for you to attend. As for anyone interested in Volleyball, look out for the next training camp and I will see you there.
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