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Cairns Volleyball Association 2026 Presidents Report

Cairns Volleyball Association (CVA) has experienced an exceptional year of growth in 2026! CVA continued to achieve one of our goals of growing our membership base, smashing through the 300-member glass ceiling for the first time in decades, and now closing in on 350 members. Much of this growth has been in the junior player space which has been great to see, resulting in more opportunities for our younger players. For the first time CVA has managed to successfully run Division 1, 2 and 3 evening competitions across the year, resulting in over 180 people playing in weekly games alongside another 60 members, some as young as 10 years old, training in our Learn to Play and Ready to Play learner programs.

Learn to Play and Ready to Play Programs:

With participation in the two Learn to Play sessions consistently reaching the 60-player capacity, CVA refined these programs, splitting them into beginner plus a more intermediate level. This has allowed coaches to focus on providing training that is better suited to the skill level of the session, while ensuring players are engaged and having fun.

Junior Crocs Program:

Under Head Coach Brian Geck’s leadership, CVA has been able to establish a Junior Crocs program, providing a space for our intermediate junior players to train and develop their skills for competitive play. This has allowed players to graduate from Ready to Play and train in a smaller team focused setting, resulting in Junior Cairns Crocs teams playing in our Division 1, 2 and 3 competitions, plus six teams travelling to the Junior States Championships. Alongside the training other coaches in the Cairns community provide, we have seen the standard of junior volleyball rise in the Cairns community. This has produced results such as CVA member Isaiah Kanagaratnam playing in the QRSS Junior Boys State Volleyball Team who recently won gold at Nationals in Victoria!

Junior State Championships - June 2026:

With six teams and over $52,000 spent by 46 players on flights, transport, accommodation and tournament fees, CVA competed once again at the Volleyball Queensland Junior State Championships. While we did not achieve any medal placings this year, there were many great games with some very close results.

Head Coach: Brian Geck

U15 Boys: 8^th out of 8 teams – coached by Stephen Ung

U15 Girls: 6^th out of 11 teams – coached by Marjorie Eroyla

U17 Boys Division 1: 4^th out of 8 teams – coached by Bradley King

U17 Girls Division 2: 7^th out of 13 teams – coached by Natalie Ung

U19 Boys Division 1: 7^th out of 16 teams – coached by Darren Grose

U19 Girls Division 1: 5^th out of 8 teams – coached by Tammy Collins

Senior State Championships - October 2025:

Fantastic results at the Senior State Championships with the Cairns Crocs Men’s Challenger Team bringing home the gold! The CVA Senior Crocs program continues to grow from strength to strength.

Head Coach: Brian Geck

Men’s Challenger team: 1^st out of ? teams – coached by Brian Geck

Men’s Division 1 team: 11^th out of 25 teams – coached by Wesley Yow

Women’s Division 1 team: led by playing coach Kirsty Soda

Cairns Cup - October 2025:

CVA successfully moved the Cairns Cup to PCYC Edmonton, allowing the weekend tournament to grow in size and be within one venue, all within air-conditioned comfort! With 15 men’s and 7 women’s teams, this was the largest Cairns Cup to date. Thank you to Townsville Monsoon’s for sending several representative teams and also to the 200+ players who travelled from Cairns, Townsville and the Torres Strait.

Queensland Beach Volleyball Tour - August 2026:

CVA once again hosted the QBVT on the Esplanade to start off Round 1 of the tour! Thank you to VQ and Cairns Regional Council for your assistance with this event, and also a thank you to Stephen Ung, Laurie Gerschwitz, Simon Leeds, Darren Saint and the rest of our volunteers who made this happen.

Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships:

Three members represented CVA at the Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships (AYBVC) on the Gold Coast alongside coach Simon Leeds. The AYBVC is a significant competition and provides a high level of beach volleyball for our junior members. CVA would like to thank VQ for their continued support in keeping this trial pathway for our regional junior members open.

Girls U17 placed 23^rd out of 29 pairs – Mariah Owens alongside an SEQ player.

Boys U17 placed 30^th out of 31 pairs – Rico Trinh and Jonah Smith.

Other:

2026 has also been about building and refining our internal systems, with two aims of increasing communication with members while lowering committee burn out. CVA spent the last year refining and reflecting upon our yearly programs and operations, writing daily operations down for reference, putting systems in place to follow, and building a culture of members formally emailing the club and not direct messaging committee members.

Recognising the importance of outreach and visibility, CVA has significantly increased its social media presence since 2024. Increased engagement with our members over Instagram and Facebook has allowed us to reach a broader audience plus showcase CVA’s many successes over the years.

Acknowledgements:

Thank you to VQ for your support over the year with upskilling our referees to achieve their Level 2 assessments and hosting the January Junior Pirates Camp. We look forward to seeing you in a cooler and drier time of the year in 2027!

A big thank you to Darren Saint for his continued contributions to CVA over countless years. You have more than earned your CVA life membership.

Special thanks to the Ung family for assisting with admin and operations when I am drowning in work as a secondary school teacher. A thank you to all members of the CVA 2026 Committee for the tremendous amount of unpaid volunteer time you have provided in 2026. Lastly, thank you to all members of CVA as well for your continued support and engagement with the sport, furthering its growth in Far North Queensland.

Committee:

President: Jesse Martin

Vice President: Natalie Ung

Secretary: William Weston

Treasurer: Darryl Schwilk

Committee: Rachel de Carlo

Committee: John Getape

Non-Voting Member: Stephen Ung

While I am stepping back from the committee and moving from Cairns, I will always be a part of CVA. It has been fantastic to see the club grow so much since joining as Secretary in 2023 and I look forward to seeing the club continue to grow into the future.

Jesse Martin

President

Cairns Volleyball Association seeks to increase the participation in volleyball of all genders, ethnicities
and where possible close the gap between First Nations peoples and others in FNQ using sport participation.
The association will continue to provide access to the sport of volleyball for social/ competitive participation,
whilst having pathways and support for those who have the ability to represent the region/ state.

Upcoming CVA events can be found on our calendar here: calendar

Cairns Volleyball Facebook group

Cairns Volleyball Instagram page 

Hello from your new committee!

• President: Jesse Martin
• Vice President: Natalie Ung
• Secretary: William Weston
• Treasurer: Darryl Schwilk
• Committee: Rachel De Carlo, John Getape

We would like to thank Chris Poppell for his work as President over the last year. To name a few achievements, Chris led changes which have seen strong growth in our junior programs, upskilling CVA members in refereeing and scoring, plus the updating of the CVA Constitution to suit modern club requirements.

President’s Report

• Introduction
• It’s been another remarkable year for Cairns Volleyball Association. After years of focusing on membership growth, 2024/2025 has seen a shift toward elevating the quality of our indoor competition. With increased membership came a wave of talented players, allowing us to diversify and raise the standard of offerings across all levels.
• I’m proud to say this year’s committee has been one of the most collaborative and supportive I’ve worked with. Their shared commitment and communal spirit have made stepping down as President a guilt-free decision. CVA is in excellent hands, and I’ll continue to support the new committee.
• Membership & Competition Development
• Indoor Competition: The rise in playing standards has created a gap between recreational players and those seeking high-level competition. To support this higher standard we reintroduced nominated referees—after nearly a decade of relying on team volunteers. This move has significantly improved match quality. Special thanks to Will Weston and Stephen Ung for leading this initiative.Division 2: Plans are underway to develop a Division 2 competition to support emerging players. The challenge remains in sourcing suitable convenors to manage this expansion.
• Thursday Development Program
• Under John’s leadership, our ‘Learn to Play’ program has remained strong. However, a wide range of skill levels led to the creation of ‘C Grade’ to accommodate intermediate players. Despite this, a gap still exists between C Grade and Division 1/2, so Thursday nights will continue focusing on fundamental skill development.Participation has surged from 45 to over 60 players this term, with two time slots already full and a third likely to be added soon.Congratulations to John and Amber on the new addition to their family! While John was on parental leave, I had the pleasure of stepping in to support the program.
• Pathways to Representation
• The Thursday program has proven its value, with many players progressing to represent Cairns at the QLD Junior State Championships. It’s not just about competition—it’s about fostering passion and connection to the sport.Thank you to Kirsty Soda for her continued dedication to the women’s representative program.Under Brian Geck’s guidance, the men’s program returned with strength, sending two teams away this year.At the Junior State Championships:U19 Girls earned Silver under coach Natalie Ung.U17 Boys & Girls and U19 Boys all placed 6th in divisions of up to 18 teams.
• Acknowledgements
• Jesse (Secretary): Please join me in thanking Jesse for his tireless work—handling Fair Play vouchers, launching programs, sourcing venues, and co-running Wednesday nights with Nat.Cairns Cup: The event has outgrown its city facility model. Last year’s dual-venue format required more coordination, so this year we’re moving to Edmonton. This will allow all divisions to compete together and expand the men’s competition to two divisions.Beach Volleyball: Cairns juniors performed strongly at AYBVC on the Gold Coast, with some finishing 2nd in their age group. Our juniors are now on par with interstate-level pairings. CVA hosted the NQ Games and has also secured its place on the QBVT calendar, kicking off the QLD Beach Tour alongside the Cairns Festival. Thanks to Brendan Begley too. Iain Cooper (Treasurer): Thank you, Coops, for your dedication over the past two seasons. Your support for volleyball and the broader community is deeply appreciated.Brian Geck: Known affectionately by myself as the “Godfather of Volleyball in Cairns,” Brian’s VQ Life Membership is a testament to his decades of advocacy and leadership. Regional Queensland is stronger because of him.Darren Saint: Darren has been a mentor, friend, and pillar of CVA. His 2024 VQ Club Administrator of the Year Award reflects years of behind-the-scenes dedication—fixtures, payments, tournaments, and leadership. Thank you, Darren.
• Infrastructure & Governance
• We’ve added a new fridge (yes, it’s fancy!) and updated our Constitution to better serve CVA’s future.
• Looking Ahead
• To continue our momentum, CVA should focus on:
• Targeted growth in the women’s Wednesday night competitionExpanding beach volleyball engagement and advocating for improved facilities at the Esplanade—potentially the best public courts in QLDSupporting Brisbane 2032 athlete preparation in Cairns, with council works expected to begin in the next 2–3 years
• While I won’t be on the committee in the short term, I’ll always be part of CVA. Volleyball remains my sport, and I look forward to spending more time at the grassroots—perhaps coaching, definitely playing—and beginning a new adventure soon.
• Yours in sport, Chris Poppell

https://www.vq.org.au/2023-vq-annual-report-final-compressed-2/