CC Air Volleyball spikes at RAF Lakenheath

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kristopher Levasseur
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  Players from six different country's Air Forces fielded both men's and woman's volleyball teams here March 9 to 12 to take part in the 2009 CC Air Volleyball Tournament.

The tournament has been running for over four decades and involves countries from all around Europe.

"The whole tournament has been a huge success," said John Enterman, 48th Force Support Squadron tournament coordinator. "A huge amount of preparation goes into putting on an event of this stature, but everything went really smooth because of the hard work, cooperation and teamwork from many of the squadrons on base."

Participants came from the U.K., U.S., Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and Poland. Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were also involved in the program but were unable to field teams this year.

"This tournament is really important because it brings everyone from around Europe together to help improve relations," said Senior Airman Marcus Harper, 48th Communications Squadron. " I have never been in to volleyball until now."

Players from each team come from a wide variety of backgrounds and go through rigorous training to prepare for the tournament.

"Players train year round with their various varsity teams and a few weeks prior to the tournament, each country has a trial camp to pick their best players for the event," said Mr. Enterman. "The players are all highly skilled; some have played for their countries' Olympic teams and others have played professionally. Most are at division one college level skill."

According to Mr. Enterman, the rewards for participation in the tournament were worth the intense training.

"Each player takes back a sense of pride for competing for their country, as well as many new friendships from meeting with other countries' players," said Mr. Enterman. "Many of the players will cross paths again in future deployments and other competitions."

The final standings for the tournament were:

Men's
The Netherlands 4 0
Poland 3 1
USAFE 2 2
Belgium 1 3
U.K. 0 4


Woman's
USAFE 4 0
Germany 3 1
The Netherlands 2 2
U.K. 1 4
Belgium 0 4