St Phillips College celebrates 20-year return to Australian Volleyball Schools Cup

With the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup bringing together schools from a range of states and territories, including five from across the ditch, it is truly the culmination of volleyball enthusiasts. 

However, flying the flag solo for the Northern Territory is St Phillips College, located in Alice Springs, the ‘heart’ of Australia. 

The school is making a triumphant return to the competition for the first time in 20 years, marking a historic moment for St Phillips, something coaches Kirsten Rice and Will Boaza are proud to be a part of. 

“St Phillips hasn’t sent a team to AVSC in 20 years, so this is the first time in a very long time that St Philips has been able to attend,” Rice said. 

“We actually set up the Alice Springs Volleyball Association this year so volleyball really started picking up.

“The students had more opportunities to compete and play against more veteran players, which helped them all start to really grow and develop. 

“But then I saw the Schools Cup competition and said ‘oh lets go’, so we started to get the word out.” 

But in order to get to AVSC, athletes and their parents were faced with the expensive reality of traveling outside of Alice Springs to compete. 

“It was really difficult because Alice Springs is so remote, which makes any form of travel way more expensive,” she said. 

“It was just the financial strain on the families, it ended up costing around $3,000 for each student to be able to come to Schools Cup. 

“We’re based in a low socioeconomic demographic, so for a lot of our kids it just wasn’t feasible.

“So, we started reaching out to the local community, and they turned around and just really wanted to support us. 

“We’ve had huge support from the community, and we have many sponsors which is why you see us traveling around in their sponsored shirts to say ‘thank you’. 

“We did a lot of fundraisers that made it all possible for several of our kids.” 

Coach of the boys team, Will Boaza is proud to see how his team is growing, not just on the court, but as good people. 

“For me as the boys coach I’m most proud to see them be good human beings around other players, and having that volleyball etiquette,” Boaza said. 

“And on top of that, the boys get to see other teams play who are really talented, and it grows the ambition of our kids to make them want to be able to play at that level at the next competition. 

“For the boys just to have this experience, where they can have a look around at the talent and aspire to achieve that, is really awesome.

“The spirit of this competition is something I’ve never seen and what has been done to facilitate all this volleyball is something that should go on forever.”

For Kirsten Rice, it is the combination of the incredible camaraderie between teams and the opportunity for her students to grow as players that makes AVSC really special. 

“It’s been a long time coming to get here,” she said. 

“I initially heard about Schools Cup three years ago and it’s been my goal to get these kids here.

“When we told them we were going to try for it this year they were so excited.

“The best thing about this competition is just seeing what was once a dream for them become reality, and they’re just so stoked to be here and be involved with it. 

“They’re also making so many friendships, they’re telling me after every game that they’re having chats with their oppositions. 

“You can see them watching other games and their volleyball IQ and technical skills are expanding because of it and I’m just so proud of them.”