437 Junior Athletes to Play for Youth National Beach Volleyball Titles
The Scape Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships get underway at the Volleyslam 2023 festival on the Gold Coast today.
437 athletes from across Australia have descended on Coolangatta Beach, with 182 teams aged representing their state in the pursuit of Under 14 to Under 18 national titles, with the best performing state also bringing home the President’s Cup.
The Scape Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships is all about providing a competitive playing opportunity and an assisted pathway of development for young volleyballers around the country.
The best young beach volleyball talent in Australia will play on courts adjacent to the Volleyball World Coolangatta Beach Pro Tour Futures event, which begins on Wednesday 29 March, giving the junior players an opportunity to watch and learn from some of the best international talent.
Kelvin Grove State College Year 9 student Ryan Edgar is representing his state, Queensland, at the Scape Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships this week, before backing up to represent his school at the Scape Australian Schools Cup which starts on Friday.
While he enjoys playing with his schoolmates, Edgar said he prefers the opportunity to represent his state in the Under 15 division.
“I think for me personally, the Schools Cup has a little bit lower level of competition because it’s just the best athletes from each school, but with the Queensland teams at the Youth Championships, we put out the best players in Queensland and verse the best players in other states,” Edgar said.
“I played last year and we won pretty confidently so I want to win again this year and not let the other states have a chance.”
An indoor volleyball athlete as well, Edgar was named the Under 14 Boys Most Valuable Player (MVP) at the 2022 Australian Youth Volleyball Championships in Bendigo, after his Queensland team won the Under 14 gold medal. He also recently won Year 9 Boys gold at the Queensland Beach Volleyball Schools Cup.
His goal is to represent Australia on the international stage, and having the opportunity to compete at Volleyslam alongside Australia’s top international athletes playing in the Beach Pro Tour Futures event at the same time is spurring him on.
“I want to become just like the other Australian players that are here on the Gold Coast – if not better – and play in the Olympics,” he said. “I just love the environment and playing the game is really fun.”
The Scape Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships get underway on Monday 27 March and will run through to Thursday 30 March on Coolangatta Beach, Gold Coast.
Follow the schedule & results here: https://youth-beach.volleyball.org.au/
