This coming weekend is a big weekend for high school volleyballers, as seven new provincial champions will be declared. Girls 4A and Boys 4A and Small Schools, as well as, Boys 2A and Boys 3A tournaments are scheduled to be played involving a total of 48 teams.

Ascension Collegiate in Bay Roberts is hosting both the Boys 4A and Girls 4A tournaments. Eight teams are competing in each event. The boys will play out of Ascension Collegiate and All Hallows School in North River, while the girls will play out of Ascension Collegiate and Holy Redeemer in Spaniards Bay. The opening ceremonies for the event is set for 11:00 a.m., Friday followed by the Skills Rally at 1:00 p.m. The round robin play in both tournaments begins at 2:00 p.m. at all venues. The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday afternoon with the girls and boys championships later that day.

Boys teams competing include Clarenville High, Ascension Collegiate, Prince of Wales Collegiate (St. John�s) and Booth Memorial (St. John�s) in the Gold Division and Gander Collegiate, Bishops College (St John�s), Corner Brook High and Discovery Collegiate (Bonavista) in the Blue Division. In the girls event Division 1 will consist of Ascension Collegiate, Bishops College, Stephenville High and Exploits Valley High (Grand Falls-Windsor). Rounding out the field in Division 2 is Corner Brook High, Prince of Wales Collegiate, Mount Pearl Senior High and Clarenville High.

MSB Regional Academy in Middle Arm is hosting the Boys 2A volleyball tournament. Eight schools from across the province have qualified for this event. Playing in Division 1 will be Southwest Arm Academy (Little Hearts Ease), Grandy�s River Collegiate (Burnt Island), MSB Regional Academy and Christ the King School (Rushoon). Competing in Division 2 will be Phoenix Academy (Carmanville), Main River Academy (Sops Arm), St. Anne�s School (Conne River) and Cloud River Academy (Roddickton). The round robin competition starts 3:30 p.m. Thursday and continues throughout Thursday and Friday. The crossovers are scheduled for 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. on Saturday followed by the championship game at 11:30 a.m.

J. M. Olds Collegiate in Twillingate is the host school for the Boys 3A tournament. Competition gets underway at 9:00 a.m. Friday. The opening ceremonies take place at 1:00 p.m. The top two teams from each division will advance to the crossover on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Saturday. Teams competing for Division 1 include J.M. Olds Collegiate, Mealy Mountain Collegiate (Goose Bay), Riverwood Academy (Wings Point) and St. James High School (Port Aux Basques). Rounding out the field in Division 2 are Random Island Academy, Baie Verte High, Lester Pearson Memorial (Wesleyville) and Piccadilly High.

Baccalieu Collegiate in Old Perlican is hosting the Fair Play Provincial Boys Volleyball tournament. Seven teams will compete in this event, which gets underway 4:00 p.m. Thursday. Division A teams include Tricentia Academy (Arnolds Cove), Stephenville High, Clarenville High and Heritage Collegiate (Lethbridge). Competition in Division B will be between Baccalieu Collegiate, Crescent Collegiate (Blaketown) and Carbonear Collegiate. The tournament wraps up Saturday afternoon with the championship game scheduled for 4:00 p.m.

The Small Schools tournaments are reserved for schools with less than 40 students in high school. Eric G. Lambert School in Churchill Falls is the host school for both the boys and girls tournaments. Island qualification tournaments were held to determine the island team that will compete in the Provincial. The winner of the Island Girls Tournament was Sacred Heart Academy (Conche), and Bishop White All Grade (Port Rexton) won the boys tournament. They will be competing with Eric G. Lambert School and Lake Melville High (Northwest River) as well as J.C. Erhardt (Makkovic) in the Boys Division. The two tournaments get underway Friday at 9:00 a.m. The boys will play a single round robin tournament with 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3 playing off to get to the finals. The girls will play a double round robin with the first place receiving a bye to the final and 2^nd and 3^rd playing off for the remaining championship spot. The boys� gold medal match is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. followed immediately by the girls� championship match.

In its continuing effort to emphasize sportsmanship, School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador, are sponsoring the Sportsmanship First Program. In addition to the Team Sportsmanship Banner, each team will nominate an individual player to receive an individual sportsmanship medal.

The top teams will be awarded with gold and silver medals, while the winner of the championship game will also receive the coveted Championship Banner.

R.B.C. has joined as a major partner of School Sports Newfoundland and Labrador.

For complete schedule and game scores, visit www.schoolsportsnl.ca

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Media contact:

Karen Richard
Executive Director
709-729-2795
709-729-2905 (fax)

Convenors:

Boys 2A Volleyball - Adam Matthews 709-252-2905, 252-2101 (fax)
Boys 3A Volleyball - Dave Dove 709-884-5931, 884-2871, 884-5281 (fax)
Boys and Girls 4A Volleyball - Glen Lane and Rodney Mugford 709-786-3400, 709-786- 0660 (fax)
Boys and Girls Small Schools Volleyball - Terry Holmes 709-925-3371, 925-3364 (fax)
Boys Fair Play Volleyball - Dave Aucoin, 709-587-3240, 587-3212 (fax)