Volleyball
17 October, 2025
Big smash ready to rumble
A concept to showcase the junior talent within Volleyball Horsham is set to launch on Sunday when 50 juniors will don neutral colors and enjoy a day of volleyball.
Big Smash ’25 pits eight junior teams against each other in a Lightning Spike format, where creating unity and a team culture will be the winner.
In a massive show of support, Pressed For Time has come on board as the event sponsor by providing playing tops for the eight teams.
The teams will be called Hype, Blaze, Bolt, Eclipse, Riptide, Mystic, Surge and Rush with each team assigned colored tops.
Volleyball Horsham’s Matt McLoughlin, who floated the concept at committee level originally, said the idea is designed to bring all the juniors together and continue to build an inclusive and friendly environment.
“Volleyball Horsham has an ever-growing junior base with participants coming from many different schools within the Horsham catchment area, and we though it would be good to garner that interest and give the kids an opportunity to play with different kids from the other schools," he said.
“The perfect vehicle for that was volleyball, so we thought let’s give it a try.
“To get 50 kids to register to participate, has been overwhelming and we’re looking forward to a great day.”
McLoughlin said the concept sees the participants go into a draft where they are ranked and then assigned to the eight different teams, to ensure the teams are as equal as possible.
“Each team will have a marquee male and female player who will be the “experienced heads” in each team, and they will be responsible for leading the teams," he said.
“We will then assign the junior talent evenly amongst the teams, so they get to learn from their leaders and enjoy their experience.”
McLoughlin said Big Smash ’25 will be played under Lightning Spike rules with two ten minute halves, with two points awarded for an ace served and two points for a block shut out.
“We’ve used this format in the past and it is very popular with the older kids, especially when things get tight and the game moves into the last minute," he said.
"Now the younger ones get to experience the fun of it.
“What we’re going to do this time, given the strength of some of the older kids, is assign the boys as defensive specialists while the girls will play entirely on the front row as an attack specialist.
“That way those stronger boys won’t serve, while the girls can showcase their attacking and blocking skills.”
“It will be interesting to see how each team embraces this change to the format.” McLoughlin said should the concept be considered successful it could be introduced twice each season.
“The timing is good to try it now as the junior country championships have finished and there is still a buzz around the success of that tournament.
“Maybe we could do another Big Smash in semester one in the lead up to the senior country championships and give those participating in that tournament some different preparation.”
McLoughlin said the event promises to be a fun day with activations scheduled throughout to keep the kids and the parents interested.
“Who knows there might be some parents out there who have great serving skills that we haven’t seen yet, let alone their kids, that might win themselves a prize or two," he said.
