AVA graduate bound for North America

The Australian Volleyball Academy is excited to announce another graudate from the AVA program, with Sam Flowerday heading to Canada to play for Thompson River University.

Flowerday, originally from Proserpine in North Queensland, has been with the AVA for the last three years.

During this time, Flowerday has been selected to be part of the Men’s Volleyroos 2021 Volleyball Nations League squad, and was a training athlete with the Developing Beach Volleyroos program during the 2020/21 summer.

With the experience of the AVA under his belt, Flowerday is excited to take this next step in his volleyball career.

“I am grateful for the opportunities that the AVA has given me, and the many pathways that the program has provided me with,” Flowerday said.

“I’m really looking forward to the next step in my life and volleyball career,” he said.

AVA Men’s Head Coach Brendan Garlick said he is proud to have witnessed Flowerday’s progress during his time and excited for his next move.

“Sam graduates from the AVA with quite a diversified experience in both beach and indoor volleyball,” Garlick said.

“Coming from a town of 3,500 people to now heading to a university of over 20,000 students, Sam is now taking a strong step forward in competing against some of the best University teams in North America.

“All of us at the AVA are immensely proud of Sam’s perseverance, what he has achieved in his time at the AVA and wish Sam all the very best for the future,” he said.

National Pathways Manager Paul Smith echoed Garlick’s comments, adding that seeing athletes graduate from the AVA is always a proud moment.

“We’re always excited when our AVA athletes progress to the next level,” Smith said.

“It recognises the moment when the athlete has developed within our high performance environment to a stage where they’re ready to move on to bigger and better things.

“We wish Sam the best of luck and look forward to seeing him progress in his career and one day wearing the green and gold,” he said.

The AVA would like to wish Sam the best of luck with his new team, and look forward to seeing them compete.

The Australian Volleyball Academy (AVA) is a national volleyball development program and was created with the purpose of coaching exceptional individuals to identify and pursue their sporting goals, whilst also supporting them with their personal development.