Momentum U13 girls hoist V-ball SaskCup

The Lloydminster Momentum VC Black won the U13 SaskCup in Warman, Sask. on Sunday in a two-set victory over Watrous in the Tier 1 final. It was the first title for a Lloydminster volleyball team at the tournament in 18 years. Far left is head coach Cory Gratton and on the right are assistant coaches Lisa Perkins and Raegan McGillivray. Supplied Photo

 

Cory Gratton, coach of the Lloydminster Momentum U13 girls volleyball teams, credits their training out of the Servus Sports Centre for becoming champion calibre players.

Two U13 girls teams will compete in an eight-team tournament this weekend in North Battleford after the Momentum VC Black won the Tier 1 final of the 13U Women’s SaskCup in Warman, Sask. last Sunday.

“This is the first SaskCup win for a team in the last 18 years that our community has been attending the tournament,” said Gratton.

The outcome was sweeter knowing about 100 teams competed.

“There’s a lot of great teams around the province, so it’s a difficult thing to do. Collectively, the teams had 11 wins and 2 losses,” added Gratton.

Team VC Black defeated the Watrous VC 25-13, 25-19 in the two-set final to go undefeated, while the Momentum Red squad won four games and lost two over the weekend. 

Gratton says there are 20 players in the U13 age group of the seven-team Momentum club that is getting a lot of quality training time at the Servus Sports Centre.

“Everything we do is out of the fieldhouse in terms of training a few days a week,” said Gratton.

“That really helps us as well because we have more space. Our equipment is there and it allows us to diversify our training. The more courts we have, the larger the group. We have a lot of skilled coaches.”

The U13 girls are currently training two hours twice a week, but will soon step that up to three practices a week with tournament season on the horizon.

The schedule includes a home tournament on Feb. 25, then a home and away tournament in North Battleford on March 11 before another home event in early April, just before provincials.

“They’ve got so much potential. I am really looking forward to seeing the end result in April,” said Gratton.

“The standard of play is so much higher than it used to be in the U13.”

author avatar
Geoff Lee
Add a comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *