Volleyball: Linlithgow Hornets have sting in their tails

May 14 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

LINLITHGOW Hornets Volleyball Club have shown their rivals they have a real sting in their tail as they continue to edge towards their dream of joining the National League.

This month’s Courier Club of the Month have only been contesting the district league for three seasons but already they have matched some of the more established clubs in the battle for championship glory and now have set their sights on making the step up to Scotland’s highest level.

The Hornets finished fifth in their inaugural campaign in the District League but this season they crossed the chalk at the end of a thrilling year in third place but narrowly missed out the title in a year in which the Hornets took points off every other club.

It is remarkable rise to prominence for the Linlithgow club who in just three years have established themselves among the elite of Scottish volleyball.

Crucial to the development of the club this year has been first team coach Sandra Bain who has whipped the squad into shape and turned them from pretenders into contenders.

Sandra, a former National League Division One star herself, originally joined the Hornets for fun but was quickly promoted to head coach.

She said: “In the past couple of years we have structured new training sessions and drills, and developed proper on court systems. The team are hungry to learn and a real pleasure to coach.

“I’ve been with the club now for three years and in that time there has been a huge change.

“When I first joined it was almost a social club where friends were playing against each other for fun.There wasn’t even a full size volleyball court and there was a low roof but it has all changed so much.

“After a year or so the numbers of people coming along continued to grow, the standard improved and the guys showed a willingness to enter competitions and we joined the District League.

“The first season was one where we were finding our feet and despite being most of the players’ first time in competitive volleyball and learning tactics and game etiquette as they went they did well and didn’t finish bottom.

“We win more games than we lose but our main problem is consistency. But that can be hard to maintain when we struggle to field to same team week on week with players unavailable for various reasons. With our full squad we could beat most teams.”

The next step for the Hornets is to make the step up to the National League and that is something they have considered.

Sandra continued: “We would maybe make that step the year after next rather than next year.

“It is a big step to go from playing for fun to committing to a game every week on a national level right across the country from the south all the way up to the Orkney’s.

“The club need to be ready to make that psychological step and prepare for such a big commitment.”