A talented young volleyball player from Heathfield High School, Ayabonga Berry, is looking forward to making his community proud while he represents the Western Cape at the Volleyball South Africa (VSA) Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT).
The tournament is currently taking place in Johannesburg from Wednesday 8 July and Saturday 11 July and is hosted by the Western Cape Volleyball Association.
Provincial tournament
The Western Cape Volleyball Association is currently competing at the Volleyball South Africa (VSA) Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT).
The province has fielded four teams (Under 19 Boys, Under 19 Girls, Senior Men, and Senior Women) at the Wits University venues.
Regionally, the association routinely hosts local indoor and beach events, including various legs of the WCVA Tour and junior trials around local venues like Belhar and Camps Bay.
Ayabonga is a middle blocker and also represents Lotus Lions Volleyball Club (LLVC).
People’s Post spoke to Ayabonga hear his thoughts on how he and his team are battling against the competition at this year’s Volleyball South Africa (VSA) Inter-Provincial Tournament (IPT).
Provincial colours
This is the first time he’s representing Western Province ever since he fell in love with volleyball last year.
Upon hearing he received his WP colours said he was “incredibly excited”.
“It was a mix of emotions. I didn’t want to celebrate too much because my brother didn’t make the team, but at the same time I was incredibly excited. My family and friends have been sending me voice notes saying how proud they are,” he said.
Earlier in June, Ayabonga and his brother, Siyabonga also ensured that their club clinched the coveted boys’ and girls’ teams titles at the Cape Town Volleyball Federation (CTVF) U-19 Youth Day Championships earlier in June.
“We played our first match against North West and beat them 3–0. We’re in a group of four teams, so we play three group matches, while the other pool has only three teams,” he recalled.
Competition
Ayabonga helped lead his team to another victory when they bested their next opponent, Limpopo, proved to be a tough competitor he said.
“After beating North West, we faced Limpopo, who were the previous champions. That match was much more intense because they really challenged us, but we stuck to our game plan, stayed composed, controlled the ball and made sure we put them under pressure before they could do the same to us. We also beat them 3–0,” he added.
Today, they faces faces Mpumalanga who have strong middle blockers according to Ayabonga.
Leading up to the tournament, training has been very intense.
“Our coaches pushed us from the start. They had one goal for us: to play our best game. The week before the tournament we repeated the same plays and drills over and over until they became second nature,” he said.
The coaches focused more on teamwork than individual performances.
“They told us that everyone who made the team already had the talent, so now we needed to become a strong team. It doesn’t matter whether we argue off the court; once we’re on the court we play together. That’s exactly what we’ve done. We enjoy ourselves, we play with smiles on our faces and we back each other,” Ayabonga added.
Heathfield High School principal Nadia Aanhuizen is also beaming with pride at Ayabonga’s selection in the team and wishes that they have a successful tournament.
ALSO READ: Brothers crowned champions at Youth Day volleyball tournament
People’s Post
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