CHAIRMAN Geoff Allen is tipping Wessex Volleyball Club’s super eight to do Dorset proud if they get the nod to compete at London 2012.

Allen’s comments come after three of the club’s products closed in on a prestigious place at this summer’s Games.

Wessex have no fewer than eight club graduates with genuine Olympic claims as the competition for Team GB jerseys intensifies.

Three of that group took a major step forward when they were named in the provisional 16-man indoor squad, which will be trimmed to 12 players by July.

Seasoned international Dan Hunter, who already boasts 74 caps at the age of 22, is a former Poole Grammar School pupil who plies his trade professionally in Holland.

He is joined in the squad by Ferndown Upper School old boy Oli Kimber, whose form for his Dutch club has been rewarded with a first call-up to the senior GB set-up. Danny Weemes, 30, also rose through the Wessex ranks and his successful season in Sweden has resulted in an international recall following a three-year absence.

Of the other players who learned the game with Wessex prior to plying their trade around the world, vice-captain Lucy Wicks, Vicky Palmer and Nicky Osborne are contenders for the women’s indoor team. Zara Dampney and Gregg Weaver, meanwhile, are both hoping to represent Team GB in beach volleyball.

Allen says the Olympic contenders have the attributes to succeed.

He told the Daily Echo: “We have lots of players with physical talent but you have then got to halve that with those who have got the mental will power, heart, courage and determination to make it to the top.

“First of all, you have to judge their physical potential and then gradually as they get further you see the mental side of whether they are going to make it or not.

“And it is also whether it is a high enough priority for them. For all eight of them, they have showed that it is a high enough priority and they all want to compete in the Olympics.”

Allen continued: “We are extremely proud and to produce a continuous supply of internationals reflects the work that has gone on at the club over 35 years.

“The problem is that the sport (in Great Britain) is trying to go from amateur to world class in three or four years. At the same time, it has had its funding cut. They are trying to get there on a comparatively small budget.”

Allen added: “For the past three or four years, we have been trying to catch up. These players were amateurs three or four years ago and they have given up careers in order to try to achieve the Olympics.

“It is great credit to all of them. They are eight very talented and determined people.”

• For more Olympics news, see the Daily Echo’s Going for Gold section, which is published every Saturday.