Home success and national recognition for North Devon Volleyballers

It's been a month filled with success and milestones for North Devon's beach volleyball players, both senior and junior. Players from the local club, Fireball North Devon, have won medals on the national tour, qualified for the European club championships, and been selected to represent England at international events. 

A record number of Fireball's junior players have been selected to be part of the Volleyball England national programme this summer, with many being selected to compete for England on the international stage.

Molly Quinn, Katie Tuohey, Heidi Bright, Harry Brett and Rob Morgan have all been chosen to compete for England in the Northern European Zonal event, with Harry Hebard and Keeva Pengelly named as reserves. Well done also to Theo Plaza, who is in the Volleyball England training squad. 

In addition to selection for the Northern European tournament, Molly Quinn has been selected to represent England at the European level this summer. Quinn, 15, will be competing at both the U18 Europeans (Georgia) and U20 Europeans (Poland) with London-based partner Alice Jagielska. The pair recently celebrated a landmark finish at a UK Beach Tour elite event, placing 5th at the Croyde Open in Quinn's first ever 4 star event.

Quinn said "I really enjoyed the challenge of playing in the Club Championships and I absolutely loved playing alongside fellow North Devon girls Beth, Dani and Anaya. Playing on Centre Court for the final was both scary and exciting. It was a great experience! I am so excited about the CEVs (Europeans). The CEVs will definitely be a challenge as the standard of volleyball in Europe is very high but we will give it our best!"

Like Quinn, hot talent Rob Morgan is having a summer to remember. After winning silver at the Youth Commonwealth Games last summer, Morgan started at Nottingham University, where he has been playing and competing at the highest national level. He sealed the title of British National Student Champion at the BUCS beach championships in Sandbanks, beating a team from Durham in the final. He has also been selected to represent England at the U20 Europeans in Poland.

Morgan said: “I’m very happy to have won BUCS beach, as this was one of my main goals for my first year at The University of Nottingham. I am proud to be representing England at the NEZVA U20 and CEV U20 championships this summer and hope that my success from BUCS can be carried forward throughout these tournaments.”

On a senior level, Fireball North Devon has also seen great success this summer. Club head coach Sam Dunbavin has been playing with RNLI lifeguard (and Rob's older brother) John Morgan and have medalled at all three of their events on the UK elite tour so far this year. They started their hot streak with a silver medal at the Cardiff Open in May, followed by bronze in their home event at the Croyde Open. 

Their best result of the year so far, however, was winning the UK Beach Tour Club Championships in Bournemouth on June 8 & 9, alongside young players Harry Hebard and Harry Brett. This result has seen the foursome qualify to compete at the European Club Championships in September, the first time an English club has done so. 

It was very nearly a double victory for Fireball North Devon, too, with young gun Quinn teaming up with senior England international Anaya Evans and top local players Daniella Webb-Porto and Beth Morgan to take Fireball North Devon all the way to the women's final, where they narrowly lost to local club Deep Dish Bournemouth. 

Dunbavin and John Morgan are competing in the senior Northern European championships in Norway. This will be Morgan's first international cap, something he is looking forward to immensely: "Sam and I have kicked off the 2024 season impressively, earning a medal in every event we've participated in together. Winning the club championships for Fireball North Devon was a fantastic experience, especially given the tough matches we had to fight through, making our victory even more rewarding.

“It was wonderful to see so many players and supporters from North Devon come together as one team. Now, we're preparing for our next event in Norway, the NEZVA Zonal Tour Event. I'm particularly excited about this because it will be my first visit to Norway and my first international cap for England."

Overall, it's been a hugely exciting start of the summer for North Devon's talented volleyballers. The club isn't content with basking in their success, though. They are always on the lookout for new players to join. They train every evening at Croyde through the summer and are running lots of outreach events at schools over this term.

Head coach Dunbavin said: "I'm thrilled with our results this year so far but I'm not content to stop there! We want Fireball North Devon to become the best beach volleyball club in the UK and would love to recruit more local talent to join us. We pride ourselves on having a warm, welcome, friendly club atmosphere, and welcome young people and adults from any background to come and join. 

“Through the winter, we ran after-school sessions at Pilton and Braunton schools. This summer we are delivering outreach events to Fremington, Sticklepath and Roundswell primary schools, plus all Pilton and Braunton feeder schools. We're committed to putting volleyball on the map for all North Devon children as a sport that you can get world class coaching and national success in. We'd love you to join us and try it out!"

If you're interested in joining the club, or if you are a local business looking to support the club's work, then please just email hello@fireballbeachvolleyball.com and Sam will make sure you find a session to suit you.