23 Jun 2024
NEVZA Youth Beach Championships 2024: Quinn excited by burgeoning Jagielska partnership
The three-day tournament (Tuesday 25th to Thursday 27th June) will see the best U20 and U18 beach players from Northern Europe face off against each other on the East Yorkshire coast.
Countries travelling to compete include Sweden, Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland and Ireland.
Devon-based Quinn, from Barnstaple, is thrilled to have the opportunity to represent her country at a NEVZA event on the beach, having already donned the red and white of England during indoor competition.
The 15-year-old is hoping she and partner Jagielska can gel quickly to go deep into the tournament – which will provide excellent preparation for the CEV European Beach Championships at U18 level (in Kachreti, Georgia) and U20 level (in Myslowice, Poland), where they will fly the flag for England.
“I played with Anaya Evans at the Beach Club Championships at Sandbanks(pictured above) where we finished second and then had some training time with Alice along with Kirk Pitman (Volleyball England’s Beach Performance Director) and I’ve been pleased with how things have been going.” said Molly.
“We played together in the last Winter Series event at Crystal Palace and have then played in a three-star event at the same venue and then our first four-star event at Croyde, so we’ve had some time to play together.
“The good thing is that we know each other well from indoor volleyball where we have been on the same indoor squads since the Cadets in 2020.I love playing with Alice because we are also really good friends off the court.
“I feel like our mental approach to the game is the same in that we don’t get too stressed about things. I think we’re both good at staying calm and working things out if we need to change how we’re going about it.
“Alice did the Commonwealth Youth Games and CEVs last year where as this is new for me, so I don’t really know what to expect, but I’m very excited and hopefully we can do well.
“The main thing is that we can play to our abilities and the best that we can. In training we have been working on different setting sequences, so we want to use those in our games.
“We are quite an attacking pair, I think. Alice (pictured bottom) has a very good swing and it’s a strong part of my game, but we have plenty of other shots too and I just think it works well for us.”
Molly followed her mum into the game, taking up the sport from an early age and being coached by Denise Austin.
She has continued to play beach, along with indoor, recently playing for the South West in the Inter-Regional Championships last month (pictured above).
Molly said: “I love the atmosphere at beach tournaments and the fact that every though everyone is competing against each other, it’s very friendly at the same time.
“This will be an amazing competition for us and it should help set us up for what is to come at the CEV events in July and also get to meet people from the other nations.
“Experiences like this are really valuable for me and though I’ve got a long way to go yet, I would love one day to get a scholarship in the US and play in the Olympics and on the Beach Pro Tour – those are my aims.”
It’s a rare occasion that England have been able to enjoy home advantage on the international stage in recent years, so Molly is looking forward to playing in Bridlington.
Her dad is planning to attend all week, while her mum and her mum and sister are travelling up for the final two day of competition.
“To be able to play for your country in your home country is a big thing for us all and I think the whole team is looking forward to that.
“It’s still a long way up from Devon to Bridlington, but at least we can get in the car rather than having to get on a plane! I can’t wait to get started.”
Pictures by Jon Cornish, Richard Beales and CEV.
To view the NEVZA Youth Beach Championships 2024 pairings by nation, click here.
To view the competition’s home page, where you can find more details about the teams, the venue, live streaming and more, click here.
You can also follow the event across Volleyball England’s social media on Twitter, Facebook, >span class="TextRun SCXW213062028 BCX8"> and TikTok.
