With such a strong history of Junior Development, it is quite a surprise to know that ‘Castle had not won the boys National under 16 title since 1982, and despite two subsequent defeats in the final (including the dramatic 16-14 fifth set defeat against Boswells in 2006) this was an age group title that had been away for too long! In the 2009 final ‘Castle were to take on Wessex, a team they had met at the Top 8s in March and beaten 15-13 in the deciding set of a truly nail-biting encounter, a match in which the teams actually finished level on points. That day Wessex’s serving was phenomenal and they were missing one of their starting swing hitters who trains with England Juniors... all the indications said that this final would be a long and tough match.

After a shaky start to the match when Wessex held a healthy lead, 'Castle fought back in style to win 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, 25-18). Setter Will Roberts took the MVP prize but the performance of all players on the day was superb and a credit to all involved in the win! Well done lads!