Volleyball
11 November, 2025
Tournament's 30 fabulous years
An idea that had its genesis in a dusty old stadium in Hamilton in 1994 will reach a significant milestone this weekend when the annual Horsham Tournament will celebrate 30 years.
I received a phone call out of the blue to participate in the Glenelg Games hosted by Hamilton.
It was a surprise as we weren’t playing any volleyball in Horsham when I received the call, but we managed to scrape together a couple of teams and off we went.
The Glenelg Games were run by the South West Sports Assembly and upon our return, I made an enquiry to the Wimmera Regional Sports Assembly’s Di Trotter, and she said that the Wimmera Games were coming up and we could ride on that event’s coat tails and run our tournament.
The very first tournament managed to attract seven men’s teams and three women’s teams and was highlighted by the power club in Victoria Heidelberg taking out the men’s title, with our own Horsham girls triumphant in the women’s division.
The following year we ran it with six men’s teams and four women’s teams, and then we knew we were onto something the following year when 25 teams entered.
The rest they say is history.
This weekend 52 teams will participate across eight divisions in five stadiums a far cry from those formative years when the basketball stadium was the only venue we needed.
The record was set in 2023 when 59 teams participated and ten courts were used including the old Ian Maroske Hall at Horsham College and the Lutheran Hall where juniors played.
This was a short lived experience as those halls, no disrespect intended, were not up to scratch for a major event like what we were bringing to this community, irrespective of who was scheduled to play there.
If that was a “highlight” for our event, the most significant achievements include the wins by the men’s premier teams in 2008 and 2018, the women’s premier teams in 2021 and 2024.
Significant from the point of view that the Horsham Tournament is able to attract some of the best teams in the state and in more recent years South Australia as well.
Over the 30 year history of the tournament power clubs like Heidelberg have won the men’s title four times, Padua six times, Mazenod an amazing seven times in a row and BBJSC Pakenham the past four years.
On the women’s side of the ledger Heidelberg and Renegades have won six times each while our very own Horsham girls have won the premier title four times.
Everyone associated with these teams is proud of their achievements because they have come against the best the state has to offer.
Our juniors initially used the tournament as preparation for the National Schools Cup with eight teams winning a title and given the Wimmera’s success at that event it proved a wise move to include juniors into the tournament.
The tournament kicks off on Friday night with the traditional playing of Harry’s Match at around 8pm.
The Good Ol’ Boys will be led by Dimitrios Vettos and he will have Loucas Vettos, Tory Chapple, Brad Frost, Tim Popple, Tim Eldridge and “honorary” Good Ol’ Boy Zac Santamaria.
This year’s Volleyball Horsham President’s XIII will be Oscar Jackman, Noah Werry, Tyler Snowden, Kara Johnson, Tim Carter, Jack Hannan, Tyler Puls, and will include six debutants in Sophie Quick, James Johns, Lloyd Baker, Emily Hannan, Paige Hemley and James Davidson.
A curtain raiser will be played between the Volleyball Horsham U15 boys and Academy girls at 7pm to kickstart what promises to be a fun night.
Volleyball Horsham is proud of what has been achieved with this annual tournament.
From humble beginnings all the way back in 1994 to where we are now, this tournament is more than just another tournament.
It is an event that teams, clubs and associations mark on their calendar each and every year as the must attend tournament of the year.
To that end we are eternally grateful to everyone that makes the Volleyball Horsham annual tournament the event that it is.
Imagine what we can achieve when we get a new stadium in “four to seven” years time.