Club Case Study: South West's journey to winning Inter Regionals U15 boys against the odds

The challenge and expectations

Ahead of the Inter Regional Championships (IRC) that are held each May, South West, like all regions, prepared all season to maximise their chances of being competitive at the event.

A monthly South West training session was held, beginning in September and running until the eve of the championships in May.

Players from clubs all over the region could sign up to attend the sessions in the hope of being selected for the squad, with the team objective of being able to mix in with the best regions in the country at Loughborough University.

For the Head Coach of the U15 Boys’ squad, Cliff Ball, and his Assistant, Neil Bentley, the process of bringing players together from across the region in order to assemble a squad has become somewhat of a ritual for them, and one which Ball relishes. 

Cliff said: “We have developed a training programme that brings results, which can be seen by the region’s track record."

However, with those good performances does come an added element of pressure. Under the coaching duo, South West U15 boys had placed fourth (2023), first (2024) and third (2025) in their previous three years. Cliff said that because of this “the pressure to produce similar results this season (2026) was high and expectant".

Preparation and progress

“This season’s first training session did not provide any indication of how the season would finish,” said Cliff.

In the week leading up to the first training session, only seven signed up - not being enough to run a session.

As a result, Cliff hastily emailed coaches and volleyball figures around the region, which did prove helpful, increasing the number to 12 sign-ups, so the session could be held.

That said, this was the lowest starting number for them since Covid-19, so it was clear more outreach needed to be done.

Again, this method worked with the number of players at sessions reaching 25 spread across 12 clubs, although it was still less than the average of previous years.

With it being Cliff and Neil’s fifth season coaching the U15 boys they have ample historic training plans which have been improved and adapted as the duo have gained more experience.

But to keep things current and unique to the new squad, Cliff “sketched out a new plan for each session, using the old-fashioned method of two sides of an A4 sheet”. He changes training drills depending on key points needing to be targeted, and to cater to “the current skill sets of the boys present”.

Taking into account the slow uptake in terms of numbers, the ‘player deselection’ process was pushed back until after the fourth session in December. But, there was a notable benefit that came from this.

Cliff said: "It allowed some of the boys with more basic skills to use the programme to advance their understanding and game play, thereby also fulfilling one of our programme’s aims of building upon what junior players do at their clubs and schools, to help bring them to the next level."

Squad selection

After the first four training sessions, Cliff and Neil had a decision to make on who was making the squad.

Cliff said: “Selection to the squad is based on various factors such as players’ attitude, work ethic, team ethic and coachability – ability to listen, comprehend and apply. We of course look at the individual’s volleyball skills and I grade these on a simple matrix. "

By using a simple matrix, as below, he believes he can track players all-round development and select the most rounded players to give him a more dynamic squad.

Cliff's matrix for squad selection

Further benefits Cliff finds are the valuable summary information which can be used in feedback given, particularly to deselected players, and the comparative measure it provides, which aids the selection process.

The final squad saw player representation from seven clubs across the region, those being, Wessex, Olympiad, Bristol, Exeter Storm, PMVC, Ivy Bridge and Cheltenham & Gloucester, and at the first training session for the selected 12 in March, a Captain and Vice-Captain were chosen.

The cohesion and performance of the 12 was put to the test in April at the Exeter Challenge Tournament, which was a good experience to see how they played as a team.

Cliff said: “They attained a respectable eighth from 12 experienced teams, losing their final two matches by just one point! Neil and I took our observations from the tournament into our final two training sessions to work on some gaps in our matchplay”.

Winning Inter Regionals and impact

The South West's overall victory in their U15 Boys category prevented a clean sweep for the London region, who won the other three titles.

Cliff outlined some key factors he believed contributed to their success.

• Arriving to the event the day before helped the boys to settle in and experience the venue ahead of their games.
• On the first day of play, after the U15 girls, the boys had a briefing to direct their focus before U15 boys pool play began
• After each game the team has a debrief away from the court.

Going into IRC, Cliff and Neil were confident with their squad, knowing they were strong, but the only unknown to them was the strength of the other teams.

The first four pool matches went well for South West, with straight 2-0 wins. The semi-final against North West was tough and ended as being a close game, going to the full three sets.

The team faced London in the final and Cliff said: “The opening of the final saw our lads sink a little and build up a six-point deficit at 10-4 to London.

"During a timeout, we drew all our mental reserves, and we willed the boys on with the help of our bench and vocal parental support to win the first set 21-17."

"The team kept momentum in the second set, and the play intensified along with the noise levels to see us through to win the set 21-17, which meant a 2-0 straight sets victory against a top team!”

South West's clinching of the title proved all their hard work was worth it. Cliff said that it was emotional finishing as champions, especially when shaking the hands of the other team's players and coaches.

“Seeing the boys collect their medals and being part of the celebrations with Neil alongside was an incredible feeling," he said. "Considering the shaky start to the season with the low numbers, we somehow managed to pull it off again following the gold of two seasons ago and bronze last year.”

Lessons and takeaways

The joy of victory and the process it took to get there provided, Cliff, Neil, the players and their clubs with several lessons and takeaways.

One key perspective gained was that “winning is not about any one person, but a collective of people with different contributions”.

The unison of the coaches that work to get the best out of the boys, and the commitment and determination of the boys to push themselves and achieve, is the recipe that Cliff believes helped them to achieve the desired result.

Also needed are a Head Coach and Assistant who have a good relationship, who can create a plan and who can share their ideas with one another.

Cliff also considers having a good team manager as important, helping with the administrative burden and acting as a treasurer, committee personnel and of course supportive parents.

In conclusion, the success of South West in the 25-26 season could not be attributed to one person or player... it took an army which collaborated and worked together to work towards and achieve their goal.