Over the past few weeks, seven GORSE students and two coaches have proudly represented England at three major international beach volleyball competitions hosted in Bridlington.

The Senior NEVZA Championships featured EHC athletes Maks and Josh , who secured an impressive group-stage victory over top contender Norway to progress to the Round of 12. They were eventually eliminated by a strong Swedish team after a highly competitive performance.

Due to the success of past NEVZAs, Bridlington was selected as a FIVB Beach Pro Tour site this year! Lauren, Maks and Josh along with coaches Pete and Elaine, made their professional debut on the world stage. The boys won their opening qualifier match but narrowly missed out on the main draw after losing their second match of the day to Switzerland. Lauren Thorn (BA) was awarded entry to the main draw where she competed in two matches just missing out on the match leading to the quarter final, and earned her first career prize money on the FIVB Beach Pro Tour.

The Junior NEVZA Championships featured several of our student-athletes:

  • U18 Boys: Christian (BSA) made his England debut, winning a set against Finland and finishing 9th alongside his partner. Emmanuel (EHC) enjoyed an outstanding tournament winning GORSE’s first international beach volleyball medal. He displayed great decision making and power helping England claim bronze in a very high level match.
  • U18 Girls: Krystina (EHC) finished 9th, remaining competitive throughout the tournament. Lauren and her partner finished 5th after defeating Denmark to secure their place in the quarter-finals. Lauren also went on to win the Queen of the Court competition with her partner on the final day of the tournament.
  • U20 Girls: Daniella finished an excellent 6th in a very strong field of international competition.
  • U20 Boys: Makowski and Cosgrove finished 5th after an impressive victory over Norway before eventually losing in the quarter-finals to England’s top-ranked pair.

Throughout all three events, Elaine and Piotr coached and supported the athletes, providing expert guidance, technical coaching and invaluable support as they competed on the international stage.

Additionally, the annual volleyball reward trip was held over the three days of the Junior NEVZA competition. 300 students qualified for the trip and played beach volleyball, cheered on their peers during the international competition and enjoyed a well earned ice cream.

This has been a historic year for GORSE Volleyball from all time high participation numbers across primaries, secondaries and college, national and international success and even the launch of our own beach courts at TFA. Thank you to all who have supported the programme as we continue striving for success. We hope everyone has a lovely summer and we look forward to another exciting year ahead.