SCHOOL SPIRIT ON SHOW ON DAY FIVE OF AUSTRALIAN VOLLEYBALL SCHOOLS CUP
The all important preliminary finals were today held at the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup, as teams put it all on the line to book a spot in tomorrow’s medal playoffs.
After more than 1800 games, it all comes down to Saturday’s medal playoffs to determine who will be the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup champions and who will walk away with the medals on offer and the minor placing bragging rights.
But on the penultimate day of competition, the sun was shining, kids were smiling and school spirit was on show on the Gold Coast.
Travelling all the way from Blayney in Central West NSW, Year 12 Boys Division 3 captain Alex said his first Australian Volleyball Schools Cup experience is one that he’s going to remember for a long time.
“This competition is absolutely awesome – it’s such a big tournament for our very small school,” Alex said.
“We’re from a very small town in country NSW and to come to something like this is absolutely incredible.
“Our team is such a young team…I’m the only year 12 student and for the younger boys to have such a great opportunity to play against all the talent from across Australia is so amazing,” he said.
With a population of only 7500, Alex said it was a true community effort to get their team to the Gold Coast.
“I can’t say thank you enough to the entire Blayney community, we’ve had so much help to get us all here,” Alex said.
“Without the school, and without our community we wouldn’t have been able to get up here so it’s awesome.
“I’m over the moon being here and getting to represent Blayney and all the people back home. I can’t really describe how I’m feeling. For such a small town, to have such a big opportunity and for us to be doing so well so far.
“Coming here, we just wanted to do our best and have fun. But to be winning sets and winning games is something that we could have never dreamed of, we couldn’t be happier.
“It’s so good to see everything we’ve worked on come together, and all the hard work paying off,” he said.
Thinking about the future, Alex said he wants to keep enjoying the sport, but he will always have playing at the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games in the back of his mind.
“I think anyone would be crazy if they said they weren’t thinking about being there [Brisbane Olympics],” Alex said.
“Being from Blayney, coming up here and seeing the opportunities that we can have I think has motivated me even more.
“10 years is a long time, but the dream starts now,” he said.
King’s Christian College Year 11 Girls representative Emma said the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup has been going really well for her team so far.
“The competition and games are really fast paced, but it’s good to get to know all of the other teams from across Australia,” Emma said.
“It’s a good challenge to play against teams we don’t normally get to see, but there’s heaps of familiar faces too.
“This is my third year coming to Schools Cup, and I look forward to it every year,” she said.
Currently sitting first in year 11 Girls Division 1, Emma said her team would love to be playing in the gold medal match tomorrow.
“It would mean a lot to us…we came away with silver earlier in the year at the Queensland State Schools Cup so we really want to win the gold medal,” Emma said.
“It would be amazing for the girls, we train so hard for this so we’re all focusing on that right now.
“Volleyball really brings us together as a team, we can bond over volleyball. We’re always practising with each other at lunchtime at school and keen to have a hit.
“And with the other teams here as well, that’s what I love about volleyball, you can always go around and play with everyone even if you don’t know them,” she said.
Gus and Hennessy from Ambrose Treacy College in Brisbane, Queensland said their Year 8 Boys Division 1 team are having a great Australian Volleyball Schools Cup experience so far.
“It’s a very good and fun thing for us to do in the school holidays, to come together with all of our mates and have a good time playing volleyball,” Gus said.
“It’s a nice competition as well, and great facilities at both Coomera and Carrara.
“It’s a good chance to progress our skills, and play against some teams and schools we have never heard of before,” Hennessy added.
“It’s good to be exposed to all the different teams and styles of volleyball,” he said.
With school already wrapped up for the year at Ambrose Treacy College, Gus and Hennessy said they are grateful for the school for giving them this opportunity, and their coach for supporting them during the school holidays.
“We’re very grateful to our school for letting us come here, so for us it’s a really nice opportunity. I really like this sport,” Gus said.
“This team, we’ve been playing together for a few years now, so we’ve got really good chemistry with each other.
“And our coach, he’s been with us the whole team and is a really great coach,” Hennessy said.
Follow all the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup results at https://avsc.volleyball.org.au/draw/
