With the summer now upon us and various tournaments taking place, I would like to let all know that indoor training will resume from 6th September (Men) and 7th September (Ladies) both from 7.30pm.

Annual membership will be due by these dates so please see the respective treasurers or contact club secretary for any further information.

See you soon ! ! !

The ladies have recently ended their FIRST league season with contrasting fortunes in both entered competitions.

Firstly they travelled up to Glos Uni 1 at the Oxstalls sports hall in Gloucester to take on the current league toppers.  The ladies played some fantastic volleyball and through pure determination and a great team spirit they overcame their counterparts 3-2 in a closley fought match.

In contrast however when they played local team Cardiff Ladies in the Voleyball Wales league.  It turned out to be a heated and bad tempered affair, starting out by mis-communication by the home team.

The ladies knuckled down but it appears that their focus and concentration had taken a slight knock and they duely lost the game 3-0....

Nevermind ladies you have had a fantastic season in your debut competitive season, cannot wait until we see even more improvement next year.

The team lost tonight against Cardiff in the Volleyball Wales local league match. The squad however was a patched up team as most of our first team regulars were unavailable and as such we were glad to have assistance of three of our ladies players to make up the numbers, namely Phyllis, Natalie and Heike.

Despite total effort from all our players we lost 3-2 to an ever improving youth side.   Many thanks to all our players who have contributed to the league this season and heres to hoping that we have greater success next season.

Martz

Please click the link below to see the latest Gloucester Volleyball Association's league table

http://www.cardiffwildcatsvolleyball.co.uk/page25.htm

Wildcats men ended the Gloucester League season in style by beating both Stroud and UWIC convincingly by 3-0 in both games to complete their 100% unbeaten record for the year.

After playing 15 games the Wildcats have only dropped 8 sets in total, a really fantastic effort.  With only the Cup Final left on the 23rd May against Bournside this has truly capped off a terrific season for the club......

Well done boys, each and every one of you.

The Ladies were unlucky last night when they lost the return visit of Bournside at our home venue.  After previously beating them 3-1 on their own patch earlier in the season they exacted their revenge by winning 3-2 after coming back from 2 sets down.

The Wildcats were at one stage at match point in the 3rd set but Bournside played it out to win it 28-26 and the 'cats fought back valiantly in the 4th and final set but it was Bournside who left the court the victors.

The ladies have still a busy week ahead, by playing against Cardiff Uni 1 on Thursday and then following that up by playing a full day of cup games on Saturday and finishing it off by the Exeter Challenge on Sunday.......best of luck ladies, hope you come back with some toblerone as well :-)

The Wildcats men today won the Exeter Challenge tournament held at the Riverside centre in Exeter.  With a very strong side going down optimism was very high.

After managing to win the pool by winning five games out of five against a spirited SW U15 side, then Kernow, Marjons, REDS, and Arrows all of which play regulary in the South West leagues we secured our Semi-final place.

The semi-final was against Torexe Buzzards who incidentally won the event last year, however we won through despite it being a very close game.

This meant we made the final and were set to play SW U17 to decide the tournament.  Our opposition despite their ages, were very co-ordinated and well deserve to play in the final.  The game was a bit nervy with neither side able to break into a great run of points to look like clear favourites.  However the Wildcats managed to win the game and indeed the tournament right on the hooter by just one point (23-22).

Another great victory for the club and a huge thanks to all the players involved today, namely.......

Steven Marshall, Ian Bezodis (C), Osmel Rodrigues, Joerg Eulenberg, Gareth Marshall, Mark Breslin, Andy Wareham and myself Martin Reed  ! !

For full details of the tournament please click http://www.exeterchallenge.com/

Yes, the fine weather is here (for a bit!) and that means as the indoor season is drawing to a close, the outdoor one begins.

Saturday club returns and is open to all, members and the general public.  So if you want to come down for a laugh and have a knock about with some of the club players then please turn up at Llandaff fields (near the bend on Cathedral Road) from 10am every Saturday...of course weather permitting.

How much does it cost?  All we ask is £1 per person to be payable before particiapation.

Hope to see as many people there as possible.

The Men secured their second league title in as many seasons last Sunday.  After clinching the Div 2 league last year the fellas continued their unbeaten record this season by winning the Div 1 as well.

The men beat Bournside 3-1 and Sandford 3-0 to become league champions.  With still two games to go on the 25th April against Stroud ad UWIC, can they finish the season with their 100% record still intact?

Wildcats men overcame a decent Bristol side last night to earn a place in the GVA Cup Final, which is to take place on the 23rd May at the Ladies College in Cheltenham.

The club beat Bristol 3-0 (25-18, 25-1, 25-14) in a highly spirited game at our home venue The Cathedral School, Llandaff.

Wildcats now face Bournside, of which the men have already beaten three times in the Div 1 league.  Is a fourth time one game too far???????

We will wait and see. 

03rd February 2010: Wildcats Ladies vs Bournside Ladies

Message from your captain Kate Thomas

" Amazing Girls!!!
A congratulations just doesn't do justice to our recent win against Bournside (unbeaten until now!!!) in the Gloucester GVA League.
We really played some organised and determined volleyball, which certainly put a smile on our coach's face.
We may have lost the first set but what we quickly realised was that we could compete with them- that raised our confidence and with it our game.
There was some great team work and communication was at its best - everyone doing their job and covering in the right places.
It was always going to be tight but we pulled through doing the right things, being consistent and won 3- 1.
Well done girls!!  You were awesome!

LoveYour Captain xxxx  "

08th February 2010

After a few months absence from the Glos DIV 1 the men enjoyed two victories yesterday against Stroud and Bristol with almost comfortable wins.  The first game against Stroud finished 25-20, 25-15 and 25-22 with Andy Wareham claiming MVP (despite his long journey up from Worthing !). 

The second game against Bristol reunited the club with one of its former players Lorenzo Marvulli, however despite the good natured atmosphere the men knuckled down to win the game 25-8, 25-16 and 25-19.  Coach and setter for the day Steve Marshall won MVP.

29th January 2010

The men suffered their first defeat of the season last night after playing a very strong Cardiff Uni first team in the Talybont Sports hall.  After struggling to get into any form of rhythm within the first two sets the men managed to make more of a game of it in the third.  Unfortunately it was not to be and Cardiff Uni finally managed to take the game 3-0.

19th January 2010

The New Year has thankfully started off where 2009 finished with both Wildcats teams have won their opening games.

On Sunday 17th the Men overcame a potentially difficult opponent in Abergavenny Panthers in the Cardiff League winning their match 3-0, whilst the mixed team on Tuesday 19th won in the return match against Bournside at home after losing the first encounter 3-1 they finished 3-0.

Plenty more games to come yet though ! !  !

09th December 2009:

The club experienced mixed results over this past week, with the ladies being unlucky in defeats to Lydney (3-0) and Glamorgan Uni 2 (3-1) in the Gloucester and Cardiff leagues respectively.

The men have continued their recent good form with wins against Bournside 2 in the first round of the GVA cup coming through by 3 sets to 0, and the following day by beating UWIC in the Cardiff local league by the same score.

22nd November 2009:

CWVC men travelled back to Cheltenham today to play their 3rd fixture in GVA Div 1, this time playing title rivals Sandford and Stroud.  Knowing the strengths of both teams we knew that it would be a tight affair, and tight it was.  Sandford up first and the first set was secured by the 'Cats 25-21.  The game became tense and with the club winning alternate sets the game had to be decided by the fifth and final set, by sheer determination and effort the men eventually claimed the game by winning the set by 15 point to 12 and the game by 3 sets to 2.

After a brief break the lads were back on to play against Stroud, our first meeting of the campaign. We started well winning the first two sets 25-17 and 26-24, however the game became difficult for us and as a consequence the next two sets were lost 25-20 and 25-23 to set up another fifth set decider.  Fortunately the team showed the same guile and grit that was showed in our first game and the men battled through with careful hitting and accurate game play to win the set 15-13 and the game again by 3 sets to 2.  The game was overshadowed however by a slight ankle injury to our new middle player Andy Wareham,  hopefully it is not long term and we will see him on the court very soon.

18th November 2009:

CWVC men played their second match in the newly formed Cardiff local league, travelling away this time to Glamorgan Uni to play their 1st team.  Despite the 3-0 win it was a much tougher game than the scoreline suggests.  With the second set being the main topic of discussion, after being 20 points to 12 down the Wildcats fought back valiantly to eventually win the set 30-28....a fantastic effort.

17th November 2009:

CWVC ladies ended their recent run of success with a defeat to Glos Uni 1 in the GVA league.  After struggling to find the form which up to now has given them a 100% win rate, they lost 3-0 to an organised and on the day a more determined opposition.  Nevermind, heads up ladies and move on, your next win is just around the corner.

10th November 2009:

CWVC Men played their first match in the newly formed Cardiff Local league last night and overcome a very strong Cardiff Uni 2 side 3-0.  This gave the club an opportunity to field some new players and experiment a bit more with plays.  Chris James played well in his first game in competitive volleyball, with Max Sdobnikovs taking the captains armband for this fixture.

03rd November 2009:

The 100% winning record contiues for the Wildcats, this time for our ladies.  Having beaten Glos Uni2 in the GVA league on Monday 2nd 3-0 after a tense nervy affair they successfully overcome the Cardiff Tigers 3-1 in the Cardiff Local league.  Well done ladies ! !

01st November 2009:

Another great couple of wins today for the men in GVA Division 1 after successfully overcoming Bristol 3-0 (25-08, 25-12, 25-12) and the stronger Sandford 3-1 (25-27, 25-14, 25-10, 25-13) to continue their 100% record for the season.  MVP in both matches was our skipper for the day Osmel Rodriguez.

18th October 2009:

Well done to the men's team for also winning their first games of the GVA season after successfully overcoming UWIC 3-0 (25-08, 25-16, 25-15) and Bournside in a hard drawn out match eventually winning 3-2 (20-25, 25-19, 28-26, 21-25, 15-10) with our first outing in Division 1.

Cardiff Wildcats Ladies won their first game of the season in the Gloucester League.  They beat a very spirited Cardiff team, operated by Volleyball Wales (http://volleyballwales.org).  The game was played in an extremely noisy atmosphere (fantastic support from both sides), after a tense match our ladies eventually won by 3 sets to 1.  Well done to you all and hopefully for more success to come.

Our men start their compaign in the GVA 1st division on Sunday 18th October against Bournside and UWIC....fingers crossed for a highly competitve day of Volleyball.

It looks a certainty that the next Saturday Club will be outside, with Llandaff fields the intended venue.

Possible date of April 4th ? ? Same set-up 10-12 with some refreshments afterwards.

Details to follow.

Martz

Hi all, I have added new fixture dates for the season.  These include the final fixtures of the Gloucester League and the start of the South West cup.  Apologies but you will notice that there are fixtures very close together, this is unavoidable and I trust you believe me when I say that I have tried my best to prevent this.....anyhow you can see these fixtures for yourself by following http://www.cardiffwildcatsvolleyball.co.uk/page18.htm . 

Also mens training tomorrow remains as per normal, however the ladies training on Tuesday has been brought forward to 6.30pm to end at 8pm, during which some of the men will be doing their plyometrics training, hopefully they won't interrupt your session too much!!!

See you soon Guys

Martin

Oh well South West league is now over for another season, again mixed responses from the playing side of things.  We managed to win one more game than last season, however the standard of our play has increased dramatically. Keep an eye on the site as their are potentially other games to be played not in a league format but possibly in a knockout / round robin system, plus the possibilty of friendly matches being arranged.

Martz

Cardiff Wildcats have again been victorious in the Gloucester Volleyball League, beating their latest opponents Cheltenham Eagles 3 set's to 0, winning 25-18, 25-23, 25-18.

The game gave an oppurtunity for some of our less experienced and newest recruits to play competitive volleyball.  The whole team played together well with both back court and front court in sync with each other, passing was accurate enabling man of the match setter Matthew James to distribute the ball to our attackers with good accuracy.

For a full match report please visit http://www.cardiffwildcatsvolleyball.co.uk/page17.htm and click on the score.

Our next fixture is the South West match on Sunday 19th October at our home venue of Cathedral School, 11am - 6pm against Torexe and Yeovil.  All those who are not selected on this occasion are more than welcome to turn up and support your team!!

Martin

Well we have played our first league game of the season, our opponents Chosen Hill of Gloucester.  Nice late start of 8pm on a Sunday evening.  As they are a youth team we were not sure what to expect, as from experience the young do like to throw themselves around the court and appear to pick up everything!!

After a tough and closely fought first set which we narrowly won 26-24, we dominated the subsequent sets winning them 25-13 and 25-11 to walk away with a good 3-0 start to the season.

However as keen and decent Chosen Hill were as our first outing we are sure tougher opponents will follow.....

The new provisional league fixtures for the South West and Gloucester leagues have been published, please visit the respective pages for this information.

Also Standing orders for this season are due to be set up soon, please await information from the comittee very soon on what this entails.

Hi all,

         as many of you may know, Cardiff Wildcats are holding and invitational taster session on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th at the Cathedral School from 7pm - 9pm.

We would like ALL members to attend either or both of these dates to assist those coming along, we would like to achieve as much one - one training as possible.   Please confirm via email to mail@cardiffwildcatsvolleyball.co.uk your intention.

Regards

Martin

Our tournament entries conclude on the 22nd of this month, any of those deliberating or congitating (as Lloyd Grossman would say) on entering should now be considering putting their applications in, otherwise this event will need to re-adjust to those committed to this fantastic weekend of Welsh Hosted Volleyball ! !

We really would like to meet our application quota as this would mean that the pre-season volleyball would be at it's highest and most competitive.

So forget the summer beach blues as the weather has been up and down and prepare yourself for the REAL volleyball 6 aside indoors before your main season takes place..put your tactics in practice, try your youngsters, or just turn up in silly suits and have a laugh..we cater for all ! !

Visit our http://www.cardiffwildcatsvolleyball.co.uk/page2.htm tournament page for more details, or contact myself on reed-m2@sky.com for more information or just for me to give you answers for any questions you may have.

Regards

Martin

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the format for the ladies event has needed to be changed.  We now only have one court available for the the ladies teams and as such we have had to alter the number of participating teams for this tournament. 

Therefore the maximum amount of ladies teams available to take part is now 8 and NOT 12 as previously advertised.

We apologise for this sudden alteration of the format and hope that this will not deter all those already signed up,  you just have to play longer and harder ! !

I can now confirm re-commencement dates for Wildcats Training sessions for the 2008-09 season.

Men start back on Monday 1st September, with the usual timeslot of 8pm-10pm

Ladies will return on Tuesday 2nd September with a new time of 7.45pm - 9.15pm.

We are also hosting two "taster" sessions in August to allow any potential new member to come along and have a go!  This will run on Monday 18th and Tuesday 19th from 7pm to 9pm at the Catheral School Sports Hall, Llandaff.

Anyone wishing to come along please do so as the sessions will be totally free, just wear suitable attire for a sports hall and preferably light, running style trainers.

Cardiff Wildcats are recruiting new players for the upcoming 2008 / 09 season.  We are looking for members of all standards to join us.  Our mens team consist of an advanced (some may disagree!) and a beginners team.  Our ladies team are completley new and very eager to improve further.

We will welcome any new player to join us and we plan a taster session in August to invite anyone interested in coming along and trying out with us...details will be on this site soon.

We are happy to confirm that our first Open Volleyball tournament has been finalised and will be staged over the weekend of 13th + 14th September.  It will take place at Cardiff Universities Tal-y-bont Sports Complex campus.

It will staged on 4 (yes 4 !) volleyball courts, with 24 teams competing.  Entertainment will also be provided for both the Friday (if you are coming down early !) and the Saturday evenings.  It promises to be an exciting weekend for both entrants and us as a new club staging what hopefully will be the first of many tournaments of this type.

Please visit the events section of this website for further information.

For those TV nut's, World League Volleyball begins this week with Eurosport 2 showing highlights of day one.  Venezuela vs France.

As you can see the website is almost there, a bit of tweaking and twirking but I am getting there  ! ! As we are in the close season, it is a good time to reflect on the previous season and to analyse ourselves.

We potentially have a busy time ahead of us, and we should use the time from now until training resumes in September to look at our individual fitness and our ambitions.  So those who are entering competitions....fantastic ! ! Whilst the weather is with us it's a great time to get down onto the beach........shame I cannot be there with you :-( .

Just one date for your diary so far......Friday 20th June, Phil (Martin) 40th B/day, will be watching 20/20 cricket at Sophia Gardens, so the usual drinks / food etc!! Tickets £11 booked or £15 on the gate, let Steve know if you are interested.

If you look at the events section you will see some popular tournaments coming around, so perhaps time to think about entering / particiapation.

On the old goggle box for those who have Sky Sports, there is GB European Volleyball Qualifiers on Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports Extra, check your system for further details

No other News as yet but will update in due course.  Get those shades out.