The UWC Beach Volleyball team which took Varsity Sports by storm may be the strongest Varsity side in the country, but the foundations for their success were laid at school level.
The Cape outfit went through both the Plettenberg Bay and Margate tournaments unbeaten, and added the USSA title for good measure in between, so they clearly had the edge over their rivals.
The secret to their success goes back to their primary school days when Bejancke Della and Prudence Layters were identified as talented young volleyball players and sent to the Western Cape Sports School in Kuilsriver in Cape Town.
There they received expert coaching, conditioning and nutritional input through their high school years whilst also building up valuable experience which resulted in the clinical performances they produced in the Varsity Sports tournaments.
Elmien Cloete was their volleyball coach at school, and as a sports manager and director at UWC, she was instrumental in putting the champion Varsity sports Beach Volleyball side together.
She told varsitysportssa.com: “Bejanka and Prudence were identified early for their height and basic skills which they had in primary school and were able to use the opportunities given to them well.”
The Western Cape Sports School has 300 learners across all the major sporting codes, with excellent facilities, including a Beach Volleyball court, and structured training programmes.
“It is great to see the fruits of that programme working, you could see that the understanding between the girls and the experience they have really gave them the upper hand in the Varsity Sports tournaments,” Cloete said.
Cloete explained that UWC is the best place for talented young volleyball players to develop in the Cape Town area.
“The UWC men’s team won the club championships this year and the ladies finished runners-up so it was the perfect fit for them and they really showed their skills at the Varsity Sports tournaments,” she said.
With Della and Layters only recently out of school it is clear that the rest of the Varsities have some catching up to do if they want to compete with UWC in the years to come.
