By David Berry

A development camp this week will see 20 juniors start their 2026 volleyball year in the best way possible.

Eighteen Volleyball Horsham members and two boys from Goulburn Valley Volleyball Association will receive two days of on-and-off court training, in an inaugural junior development camp run by Volleyball Horsham Hall of Fame member Matthew Berry.

Now head of high performance at Mazenod College in Melbourne, Berry said the camp was the perfect way to start the year.

“We’ve been talking about doing a camp for a while now, and to get 20 juniors for a first up attempt is quite pleasing, especially at this time of the year,” he said.

“Sunraysia has been doing it for over 10 years and have been doing it successfully, so we thought we would take their lead and see what we could do for Volleyball Horsham juniors, and juniors from the wider community.

“To get two boys from Shepparton is a good advertisement for what we are doing, and hopefully this will be the start of something positive going forward.”

Berry said the camp would incorporate both on court sessions and off court education, which complement each other.

“Together with Volleyball Horsham coaches Sophie Quick, Jasper Ponseca and Tyler Puls, we’ll teach the kids all the skills of the game over two days, and finish with some match play, enabling them to put what they’ve learnt into action,” he said.

“Then the off court sessions will include sports health and wellbeing, volleyball specific learnings and careers in sport.”

Berry said the learnings he has taken from Vipers development camps he had run in Melbourne over the past two years would be taken into this camp.

“Every school holidays we have run these camps and we have seen plenty of juniors participate, including kids from the country, so we know just how important they can be for the development of these kids going forward,” he said.

“To be able to bring the most up to date coaching methods and philosophies to these kids is so important for their development.”

Berry said he was also looking forward to the special guest speaker at the camp tea on Wednesday night.

“To have someone who has been to the Olympics and been successful at Commonwealth Games, is a huge boost for the camp,” he said.

“The kids and their parents will be blown away by this Olympian’s story.”

The camp starts at 9am today, Wednesday, and continues throughout the day, with the second day starting at 8am and finishing about 4pm.

“It will be held at the Horsham basketball stadium and anyone interested in watching is encouraged to do so,” Berry said.

“I also encourage any PE teachers who are around to come down and take in what we are teaching the kids, so they can take the learnings back to the schools for the benefit of their students.”

The entire January 21, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!