Shelly Chu, Megan Van Essen, Jenny Little, Ellie Riazi, Jade Saunders, Sophie Taylor, Jodie Gregson, Elly Martin, Alice Heath, Misha Riazi (Capt), Kirsty Martin, Rebecca Beswick.
Reserves
Courtney Bardlsey-Hodgkiess, Megan Brocklehurst and Julia Whalley

North of England Girl’s Volleyball Squad
Preparation for UK School Games – 2008

Players and coaches from the three regions – Yorkshire, North East and North West were invited to a trial in Manchester on Saturday 14th June.  Approximately 60 young players attended and we were grateful that Dr. Lorne Sawula, the Great Britain Women’s Head Coach, accepted our invitation to attend, contribute to the session and make suggestions as to selection for further training. There then followed a final training session on 21st June, at which the squad and reserves were selected.

The bulk of preparation for the games took place over two residential camps – 3 days in July and 2 days in August. These provided the chance for players and staff to get to know each other and to work towards a common goal.  The players responded really well and developed the high standard training habits required for competition at this level.

We are now hungry to get to the volleyball holding camp for the last-minute fine tuning which will enable us to arrive at the games and ‘hit the ground running’.  From the experience of last year, we know that this attention to detail is excellent preparation for such a high profile and high quality event.

Ian Goswell, 
Head Coach North of England Girls