SW Vets Tournament

The SW Vets tournament is a handicap event for our older players where men and women compete against the clock, to either keep their handicap points advantage or to catch and overhaul the other team before the hooter sounds. Teams can be made up of any combination of players and the format generally throws up a different winner each year.

All players must be at least 35 years old on the day of the tournament. The event is open to teams from VE Registered clubs in the SWVA region.

2023 Veterans Tournament Report

It was another great day of volleyball for our older members as they took part in the 2023 SW Vets Handicap tournament at the Riverside LC in Exeter.

With a full complement of 12 teams the event started with pool rounds, where Saga Louts got off to a strong start in their bid to win a 6th consecutive title, topping their pool with only City of Bristol 1 managing to take a bonus point against them. In the other pool new comers Exeter Storm dominated, despite having to make up points on the handicap system. As by far the youngest team in the event with an average age 10 years below the event average, they started each game at least 5 points, sometimes up to 11 points down.

One of the semi-finals saw a return of the ongoing rivalry between Saga Louts and Wiltshire Mavericks in a replay of several previous finals. This time though WiltshireMavericks turned the tables to secure their place in the final. Exeter Storm met Calne Comets in another Exeter vs Wiltshire match for the second semi-final, which they comfortably won.

This set up a final between two NVL Division 2 teams, where the “old guns” showed the better staying power to regain the Veterans title they last won in 2014. Torexe Saga Louts finished third ahead of Calne Comets.

2023 Winners: Wiltshire Mavericks

Final Results

  • 1st Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 2nd Exeter Storm
  • 3rd Torexe Saga Louts
  • 4th Calne Comets
  • 5th Plymouth Mayflower
  • 6th City of Bristol 1
  • 7th City of Bristol 2
  • 8th Torexe Wolves
  • 9th Cheltenham & Gloucester
  • 11th Cardiff Volts
  • 12th Yeovil Yeolderlies

2023 Second: Exeter Storm

2023 Third: Torexe Saga Louts


2022 Veterans Tournament Report

2022 Winners: Torexe Saga louts

We did initially sell-out all places for the annual Veterans tournament, but without any teams on the waiting list, it was looking like we would not have a full complement of teams, when two teams pulled out with less than two weeks to go. However it looks like Exeter now has a lot of older players as two of our local clubs managed to round up an extra couple of teams, giving us four teams in total from the Exeter area.

In the round robin matches Wiltshire Mavericks topped Pool A undefeated with Torexe taking second place. In Pool B it was all much closer with the top 3 spots only separated by 1 match point and the top two places decided on points scored. Saga Louts just edged it over Speedwell Dash only a few points above Exeter.

At the end of the day it was two of our regular top teams, Wiltshire Mavericks and Torexe Saga Louts fighting it out in the final. Saga Louts were once again victorious to give them a record 5 consecutive events with an essentially unchanging team. Torexe finished in third ahead of Speedwell Dash in fourth.

Final Results

  • 1st Saga Louts – Torexe
  • 2nd Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 3rd Torexe
  • 4th Speedwell Dash
  • 5th Exeter
  • 6th Cheltenham & Gloucester
  • 7th Wiltshire Allsorts
  • 8th Kirton Wolves
  • 9th City of Bristol
  • 10th Countrymen A
  • 11th Yeovil Vets
  • 12th Countrymen B

2022 Second: Wiltshire Mavericks

2022 Third Place: Torexe


2021 Veterans Tournament Report

2021 Winners: Torexe Saga Louts

It was great to see a return of tournament action following the 18 month hiatus. The event attracted a lot of interest selling out with 4 teams on the waiting list with 2 months to go, showing that teams were eager to get back. Unfortunately as the date drew nearer a combination of Covid isolations, injury and illness resulted in only 10 teams able to make it on the day.

The competition started with teams playing a random five other teams in a ladder format. There were many closely fought games with two thirds of matches resulting in teams scoring the bonus point for staying within 75% of the winning score. At the end of this phase four teams had each lost just one game with points scored having to be used to separate the top 3 teams. The remaining teams were all very close. Teams in 4th and 5th place and 8th and 9th place went into a play off to decide who went into the top group (1 to 4) & middle group (5 to 8).

After the play-offs there was a short break to make a presentation to Ron Richards to celebrate his 50 year contribution to the SWVA, see 50-years-not-out.

The first semi-final saw a rematch of one of the ladder matches between Wiltshire Mavericks and Saga Louts when Wiltshire Mavericks had a 2 point advantage in a very exciting game. Saga Louts upped their game in the semi-final to take a convincing win. In the second semi-final Bemi VC 2 had a comfortable win over Cheltenham and Gloucester.

This set up a final between reigning champions Saga Louts against the Bemi VC 2, which was very equal throughout with Saga Louts just opening up an advantage in the closing stages. Saga Louts retained their title for a very impressive 4th year in a row giving them 5 titles in all.

Bemi VC 2 have since been disqualified for rule violations, which promotes Wiltshire Mavericks into second place.

We continue to monitor the age demographics and whether the qualifying age is at the right level. Only one team this year didn’t use any players under 40 (which was the winners Saga Louts) and over a third of the players were over 50. Almost 10% of players were over 60, but they were balanced by an equivalent number eligible to play this year for the first time. Therefore with 60% of teams relying on players under 40 it doesn’t look like we can increase the qualifying age without a substantial impact on the number of teams we can attract.

Final Results

  • 1st Saga Louts – Torexe
  • 2nd Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 3rd Cheltenham & Gloucester
  • 4th City of Bristol
  • 5th Yeovil
  • 6th Wiltshire Allsorts
  • 7th Countrymen
  • 8th City of Bristol 2
  • 9th PMVC Vets
  • Bemi VC 2 – Disqualified

 

Second: Wiltshire Mavericks

Third: Cheltenham & Gloucester


2019 Veterans Tournament Report

This year we combined the annual Veterans tournament with the SWVA 50th anniversary celebrations moving the tournament to Saturday. It was yet another sell-out event with many of the stalwart teams back to renew the challenge, but also included a couple of new teams. Riverside Gloucester representing the new growth in the region and Speedwell Dash bringing a touch of history to this 50th anniversary event.

In the morning pool rounds both pools had a clear winner with Wise Mavericks topping Pool A and Saga Louts Pool B. However, in both pools it was a tie on match points with it going down to points scored to determine the other two semi-final places. Riverside Gloucester just edged out Speedwell Dash in Pool A and City of Bristol getting ahead of Young Mavericks in Pool B.

After two very close semi-finals Saga Louts once again progressed to the final and were joined by City of Bristol in a one point finish against Wise Mavericks. The champions from the two previous years, Saga Louts, went on to make it a hat trick with a convincing victory over City of Bristol.

2019 Winners: Torexe Saga Louts

There were some very close fought matches to determine the rest of the places in the table.

Final Results

  • 1st Saga Louts – Torexe
  • 2nd City of Bristol
  • 3rd Wise Mavericks
  • 4th Riverside Gloucester
  • 5th Countrymen
  • 6th Young Mavericks
  • 7th Speedwell Dash
  • 8th Exeter
  • 9th PMVC
  • 10th Yeovil
  • 11th Torexe
  • 12th Cheltenham & Gloucester

Second: City of Bristol

Third: Wise Mavericks

 

2018 Veterans Tournament Report

It was another excellent sell out event at this years SW Vets event with teams from around the SW region, renewing old friendships, on court battles and having fun with the mixed handicap event.

The handicap system generally throws up a different winner each year so it was quite an achievement for Torexe Saga Louts to beat the odds and to retain their 2017 title with a golden points victory (29 to 28) over Wiltshire Mavericks. Well done to everyone involved.

2018 Winners: Torexe Saga Louts

Second: Wiltshire Mavericks

Third: City of Bristol

Fourth: Plymouth Mayflower

It was good to see a number of new teams at this year’s event and a special mention should go to Bristol Hornets who were in one respect the strongest team in the event, finishing in twelve place and hence supporting the rest of the table.

Final Results

  • 1st Saga Louts – Torexe
  • 2nd Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 3rd City of Bristol
  • 4th Plymouth Mayflower
  • 5th Exeter One
  • 6th Yeovil
  • 7th Bourneside Unlucky
  • 8th Cardiff Volts
  • 9th Countrymen
  • 10th Bemi 50th Tour
  • 11th Torexe
  • 12th Happy Hour Hornets

 

2017 Veterans Tournament Report

It was fantastic to see a full complement of 12 teams for this year’s Veterans tournament. Five teams had an average age between 46 and 50, giving the highest age handicap of the day and only one “young” team averaging just under 40.

In the morning pool rounds Yeovil chased Cheltenham & Gloucester all the way in Pool A as both teams progressed to the semi-finals. In Pool B City of Bristol were the only team to challenge Wiltshire Mavericks taking them to a draw, but unfortunately a couple of other matches didn’t go their way and it was the 2015 champions Saga Louts that took the final place in the semi-finals.

The morning pool rounds had obviously taken its toll on the both pool winners as they were both knocked out in the semi-finals, setting up a very close final between Saga Louts from Torexe and Yeovil. Saga Louts regained their title by just 3 points from Yeovil, which was the same points margin in the third-fourth play-off, to give Cheltenham & Gloucester third place.

There were also some very closely fought battles to determine fifth to eighth places and the oldest team in the competition Cardiff Volts came good in the end, having not won a match in the pool rounds to win both their play-offs and finish ninth.

Results from 2017 SW Veterans Tournament

    • 1st Saga Louts – Torexe
    • 2nd Yeovil
    • 3rd Cheltenham and Gloucester VC
    • 4th Wiltshire Mavericks
    • 5th City of Bristol
    • 6th Plymouth Mayflower VC
    • 7th Royal Navy
    • 8th Exeter One
    • 9th Cardiff Volts
    • 10th Mature Cheddar
    • 11th Countrymen
    • 12th Torexe

First Torexe Saga Louts

Second Yeovil

2016 Veterans Tournament Report

With 7 teams in this year’s event, all teams got to play everyone else and there was little time for sitting around and allowing the old bones time to stiffen up! The handicap system worked well with most teams having very close games, with many matches being decided in the final few minutes.

sw-vets_web

City of Bristol was the in form team in the round robin and lost only one match in the main part of the competition, when Torexe caught them off guard in their final game. As the last round started, there were 3 teams still all in contention for the second place, with the real potential of having a three-way tie on match points, as it was all square between Bournside Unlucky and Exeter 1, for much of the game. In the end it was Bournside Unlucky who took the second spot, with Countrymen, the oldest squad in the competition with an average age of 56, taking a well deserved third place.

Bournside Unlucky started out the day true to their name, with only 4 players in the end being able to make the trip, however other clubs rallied round (notably Countrymen and City of Bristol) and helped them out in the spirit of the tournament. In the end they proved to be lucky in their new found friends and who helped them win the final against a City of Bristol side that unfortunately didn’t do themselves justice in the final game.

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SW Veterans Champions 2016: Bournside Unlucky and Friends!

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SW Veterans Runners Up 2016: City of Bristol

Results from 2016 SW Veterans Tournament

  • 1st Bournside Unlucky and Friends
  • 2nd City of Bristol
  • 3rd Countrymen
  • 4th Exeter 1
  • 5th Cardiff Volts
  • 6th Yeovil
  • 7th Torexe

2015 Review

All teams played everyone else and at the end of this there was only 1 point separating the top 3 teams, with last year’s winners Wiltshire Mavericks just losing out on a final place.

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Action – Court 1: Exeter v Cardiff Volts     Court 2: Wiltshire Mavericks v Yeovil

The event often throws up a surprise or two, this years star performers were the Torexe based Saga Louts, as well as a positive attack, they had by far the best scramble defence of any team on the day which saw them through to victory in this years final against last years runners up Yeovil.

A special mention to Phil Gorton (City of Bristol) making a welcome return to the court after having been rebuilt showing the rest of us that we have no excuses!

Sarga louts Torexe_web

SW Vets Champions – Saga Louts (Torexe)

Results from 2015 SW Veterans Tournament

  • 1st Saga Louts – Torexe
  • 2nd Yeovil
  • 3rd Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 4th Exeter 1
  • 5th Cardiff Volts
  • 6th Countrymen – Cornwall
  • 7th City of Bristol

yeovil_web

SW Vets Runner up’s – Yeovil VC


Report from 2014 SW Veterans Tournament

It was another packed day of competition at this years Veterans tournament. The 8 teams saw plenty of action with longer matches and lots of close fought games, with all teams getting the chance to play the rest of the field. By mid-way through the competition the top four teams had pulled clear, with Wiltshire Vets booking their place in the final first, but it came down to the last round of matches to find out who would join them. The last match of the round saw the second drawn match of the day between Kernow and Yeovil, but this was enough for Yeovil to book their place in the final to defend the title they won last year.

The lower half of the draw was fought out between the Devon based teams with only 2 match points separating all four teams at the end of the day and a last match win for the Old Speckled Hens gave them the local honours of top Devon team.

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1st Wiltshire Old Vets

The final was a repeat of last year, but Wiltshire Old Vets finally overturned last years defeat and completed the day as SW Veterans Champions 2014 without losing a match.

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2nd Yeovil

A great tournament played in a friendly atmosphere with lots of banter between the teams. Once again our thanks go to sponsors Torexe VC and volunteer Ros Sutherland, whose help in setting up and keeping the event running during the day was much appreciated.

2014 Results:

  • 1st Wiltshire Old Vets
  • 2nd Yeovil
  • 3rd Kernow Vets
  • 4th City of Bristol
  • 5th Old Speckled Hens – Torexe
  • 6th Old Peculiars – Torexe
  • 7th PMVC Veterans
  • 8th Exeter Dream Team

Report from 2013 SW Veterans Tournament

It was another sell-out event for the regions leading mixed team event, although the name of the event is the SW Vet’s Tournament, it’s more than that, with two thirds of the entries being from mixed teams. The competition uses a handicap system based not just on age but also with additional points for each female on court at the start of the match, encouraging a true mixed tournament. Teams then have to either hold on to their point’s advantage or catch the other team up within the allotted match period of seventeen minutes.

It’s a format that produces an excellent match environment and very entertaining volleyball for players and spectators alike and has produced a different event winner each year.

Many thanks to all the teams who entered this year, our sponsors Torexe VC and to the various volunteers who helped out during the day, Jenny Scott & Chris Semmens to name a couple.

yeovil_winners_web

Yeovil – SW Vets Champions 2013

2013 Results:

  • 1st Yeovil Better Late Than Never
  • 2nd Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 3rd City of Bristol 2
  • 4th Plymouth Marjon Old Boys
  • 5th City of Bristol 1
  • 6th Saga Louts – Exeter
  • 7th Yeovil
  • 8th TooOld.com – Torexe
  • 9th The Spring Chickens – Plymouth
  • 10th Caldicot Crew
  • 11th Countrymen
  • DNF Cardiff Volts

final_match_web

A good crowd stayed on to watch the tournament final and what an excellent match to finish off the day with. Wiltshire Mavericks, Yeovil, Marjon Old Boys and City of Bristol 2 had been the top four teams of the event. Wiltshire knocked out City of Bristol 2 in the semi-final  25-22 and Yeovil took the match against Marjon Old Boys 26-20 to set up the final between the two teams.

The two teams traded points throughout the match and it was not until the last few minutes when Yeovil managed to open up a gap on the scoreboard and kept it to the final hooter to collect this year’s title.

Wiltshire_Mavericks_web

Wiltshire Mavericks – Second

Third place went to City of Bristol 2 who took the third – fourth play off match 26-21 over Marjon Old Boys.

City of Bristol_web

City of Bristol 2 – Third

 

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Plymouth Marjon Old Boys – Fourth

 

Click for more photos

 

Report from 2012 SW Vets Tournament

Plenty of exciting action at this year’s SW Vets Tournament as our senior players took to the court for the annual event. This years event was held in Exeter with eleven teams taking part.

After eight hours of competition, City of Bristol took the event title with a win over Yeovil in the tournament final,  Barry’s 60th Birthday Blues from Bemi picked up Third place, with Better with Age (Taunton) rounding out the top four.

City of Bristol 2012 SW Vets Champions

 


Some facts and figures:

Four players over 60 took part this year (down from five in 2011), with one celebrating his 60th birthday on the day! There were eighteen players in their 50’s, the oldest team once again was Torexe OF with an average team age of 55 years.


2012 Results:

  • 1st City of Bristol
  • 2nd Yeovil
  • 3rd Barry’s 60th Birthday Blues – Bemi
  • 4th Better with Age – Tauntonl
  • 5th Wiltshire Mavericks
  • 6th Marjon Old Boys
  • 7th Cardiff Volts
  • 8th Torexe Old Timers
  • 9th Countrymen 1
  • 10th Torexe Old Farts
  • 11th Countrymen 2

 Team Photos

Second: Place Yeovil

Third: Barry’s 60th Birthday Blues – Bemi

Fouth: Better with Age – Taunton

Fifth: Wiltshire Mavericks

Sixth: Marjons Old Boys

Cardiff Volts

Torexe Old Timers

Countrymen

Torexe Old Farts

For more photos from this years event, see the Photo Album pages