Volleyballers descend on Palmerston North

Over 1,700 keen volleyballers will descend on Palmerston North when the 2011 Secondary School Volleyball National Championships kick off on Monday. (March 28)

An opening ceremony for the 150 competing teams will be held on Sunday March 27 at 6pm. The first round of games will start Monday morning with finals held Friday April 1 from 3pm, all at Arena Manawatu.

This is the fourth consecutive year that Sport Manawatu have helped host the Volleyball championships and events coordinator, Stephanie Dench believes that Palmerston North is the perfect place for it.

“Not only do we have the facilities,” she says. “But we have a tremendous amount of support from local businesses and the community to help ensure the success of the tournament.”

The teams will bring around 300 extra supporters with them including coaches and managers and the event is estimated to bring $2m of benefits to the local economy.

The Tournament Director, Pamela Brodie from Volleyball New Zealand believes this year will be better than ever.

“We’ve had so much success in the past few years and the team numbers still remain high. It’s is also great to see that four teams from Canterbury will also be making the trip here,” she says.

For more details on the 2011 Secondary School Volleyball National Championships please visit volleyballnz.org.nz.