Volleyball News |
|
| Dates are press release or publication date. | |
Top two in Australian Youth Team, 29 July 2008
Two girls in the Academy's volleyball squad, Brodie Watts and Eliza Smith, have been selected for the Australian Youth Team to play in New Zealand in October.
At the start of this year the two girls were amongst a number of Academy athletes who were selected into Victorian girls' and boys' squads over different age groups. Both Brodie and Eliza went into the girls' U17 training squad. Their squad selection was the start of a challenging six months of preparation, with weekends being committed to squad training or Junior State League competition.
As the months progressed the Victorian coaches and selectors progressively pared down and fine-tuned the squad until, at the recent Australian Championship, they had their best possible teams.
In the Championships Brodie played in Victoria Blue which, after a close and exciting battle against Queensland in the final, emerged with the Australian title. As there were two top teams to select from, Brodie was delighted to be invited to join the Australian Youth Team to play in New Zealand in October. She has also been added to the reserve list for the Asian Youth Championships shortly after.
Meanwhile Eliza's White team was less successful, finishing 9th overall. Despite the team's disappointing results, Eliza's stand-out performances in the series impressed the selectors and she too has been added to the team for New Zealand.
Both Brodie and Eliza have participated in the Bairnsdale competition and the Melbourne-based Junior State League. They are in regular contact with another East Gippsland volleyball champion, Danielle Stott, who has supported and encouraged them. Danielle rose through the Academy ranks and was also an assistant coach at one stage. Danielle is now a regular member of the Victorian and Australian girls' U21 teams, and has been a wonderful example to other young players from her area.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Volleyballers win national medals, 28 April 2008
Four Academy volleyball athletes won medals at the recent Australian U15 championships. They were Mitchell Sanders, Max Rounds, Chloe Street and Alix Porter.
Academy squad members at the Australian U15 titles:
Mitchell Sanders, Max Rounds, Chloe Street & Alix Porter.
Both Chloe and Alix were selected as captains of their sides, the girls' Blue and White teams respectively. For the boys Max Rounds played in Vic White, the no. 2 side, and Mitchell Saunders played in Yellow, the no. 3s.
The boys' final was a surprise with the second ranked Vic Whites steam rolling the Vic Blue team in a straight sets victory. As a gold medal winner Max Rounds was not the only one celebrating since the Whites were coached by the Academy's Head Coach Dave Smythe and Program Manager Sharlene John.
Vic Yellows, Mitchell Saunders' team, finished third. They were also coached by Academy coaches, Andrew Fisher and Justine White.
In the girls' competition the Vic Blue team, captained by Chloe Street and coached by Steve Holder, finished second. Vic Whites, captained by Alix Porter, won bronze.
Victoria dominated in this years championships by winning gold, silver and bronze in the boys division and silver and bronze in the girls division. We had athletes in four of the teams and our coaches supported three of them as well. We congratulate them all, and especially to Steve Holder who received a service award from Volleyball Victoria.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Selectors honour seven more volleyballers, 26 February 2008
State selectors have chosen five more Academy volleyballers into its Victorian Training Squads, now bringing the total number to 9.
Four successful squad members: Eliza Smith, Melissa
Clarke, Brodie Watts & Cass Hallam at a recent beach
volleyball display.
The successful players are Anna Williams (U16), Eliza Smith, Brodie Watts and Harley Atcheson (U17), and Cass Hallam, Susannah Ball and Melissa Clarke (U19). They join four others who were selected last week into the U15 squads: Chloe Street, Alix Porter, Max Rounds and Mitchell Sanders.
Members of the U17 and U19 squads will be in heavy training for the Australian Junior Championships in July. However, the final teams will be pared down to 10 plus four emergencies. The U15s will play their championships earlier, in April, and their teams were announced last week.
Selection into the State squads has been based on a rigorous selection process, so we congratulate the successful athletes on their determination and effort. We hope all are successful in their state team endeavours.
Ex-Academy players Jacob Lindgren (U19) and Danielle Stott (U21) were also selected. Danielle has continued to successfully play for Victoria and Australia since graduating from the Academy three years ago.
Last year Volleyball Victoria also appointed five Academy personnel to coach junior teams through to the Championships. They are David Smythe (Academy Head Coach), Steve Holder and Andrew Fisher (Coaches), Justine White (Assistant Coach) and Sharlene John (Program manager).
This is an outstanding achievement for the Volleyball program and we offer congratulations to all those selected.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Academy four make Victorian team, 19 February 2008
Four of last year's Academy volleyball squad have been selected in the the Victorian U15 team.
They will compete at the Australian U15 Championships in Albury from 14 to 17 April.
The successful girls are Chloe Street and Alix Porter, and the boys are Max Rounds and Mitchell Sanders.
There were more than 130 entrants in the selection trials in December, with selections being made into the State Training Squad. Last Sunday, Volleyball Victoria announced its final team selection of 30 players from the Training Squad.
Congratulations to all four on their selection and for their hard work over recent months.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Victorian squad roles for coaches, 13 December 2007
Five Academy volleyball coaches have been appointed to key coaching roles with Volleyball Victoria.
Our head coach David Smythe, and coaches Steve Holder and Andrew Fisher, will take up coaching positions with the U15 squads. In addition, trainee coach and former squad member, Justine White, along with long-serving program manager Sharlene John, will be assistant coaches to the squads.
The coaches have have previously been involved with Victorian teams.
At present, Volleyball Victoria are holding selection trials for the U15 squads, in a long lead up to the national championships in the middle of next year.
The appointment of our five coaching panel members is a recognition of their skills and achievements with junior players.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Volleyball selectors pick three more, 10 December 2007
Three more volleyball players have been selected to attend national training camps this summer. They are Cate Jeffrey, Eliza Smith and Brodie Watts. They will be attending Volleyball Australia's training camp at Bendigo on 15-16 December.
Like their Academy team mate, Harley Atcheson, who was previously invited to a summer training camp, the three girls will be hopeful of being drafted into a national training squad next year. Once in the national squad, the opportunity to represent Australia in overseas competition will be offered to the most outstanding of them.
At present U15 volleyball trials are underway for State selection, and this provides another avenue by which young players may come to notice and advance into a national squad.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Outstanding volleyball result in national event, 30 November 2007
Three Academy volleyball teams all played extremely well at last weekend's Good Neighbour Tournament at Canberra.
Competing against teams from all across Australia, our senior girls finished second, our junior girls were third, and junior boys were also second. Our team members support for each other, on and off the court, contributed greatly to their successful results.
Cass Hallam and Chloe Street played extraordinarily well and both narrowly missed winning the Most Valuable Player award. They both received the same number of votes as the award winner.
A Bairnsdale women's team comprising ex-Academy players Laura Nielsen, Jemi Spriggs, and Sally Deed, along with Program Manager Sharlene John, also finished amongst the medalists. The team finished top of their pool and undefeated, but were runners-up in the final
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Volleyballer vies for Australian selection, 30 October 2007
Sports Academy volleyballer Harley Atcheson is now close to Australian selection following his invitation to a national junior volleyball training camp in Bendigo early in December. The Australian Volleyball Federation runs a series of camps where it progressively grades and reduces the number of candidates and Harley has impressed selectors at previous camps held at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
The Bendigo camp is the last step, from which the Australian National Youth Team will be selected. The National Youth Team will play overseas matches next year.
Harley is one of the youngest candidates, still some months shy of his 16th birthday. However he already has the credentials to back up his claim for national selection. This year Harley was in the Victorian Secondary Schools team that won silver in the Australian Schools Championships held at Morayfield, Queensland. Harley played as a middle blocker and opposite hitter, gaining 90% court time and having little rest, and he played strongly in these positions.
The only team the Victorians didn't defeat was the home side Queensland but games against them were always close and the two teams played off for the gold medal. The Victorians came back from four points down to win the first set. The Queenslanders took a tight second set after a struggle and then went on to take out the gold medal in four sets, 3/1. Harley was selected as one of the Victorian's best players and was then honoured with a top six finish in the All Star12 for under 16 years players in Australia! This gives Harley his first National selection in the Australian Schools National team. Last year Harley was a member of the Victorian Volleyball Under 15 team that won the Australian Championships.
Following this event Harley competed for his home team Latrobe Valley in the State League Division 2 grand final. This match against Monash University was filled with exciting rallies and Harley played an important role as middle blocker, with his great height he was easily able to defeat the opposition attack many times. The Latrobe Valley team won gold in their first season and look forward to playing in division one next year.
If Harley makes the National Team he will be the third Gippsland Sports Academy athlete to do so, following in the footsteps of earlier Academy volleyball greats, Danielle Stott and Sally Deed.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page
Volleyballers set themselves, 18 October 2007
The Gippsland Sports Academy's volleyball squad players are setting themselves for a major national tournament in Canberra later next month.
The Canberra event is the Good Neighbour Tournament where Academy players have competed successfully over the last 2 years. About 100 teams from around Australia are likely to be involved.
Since the squad's training season commenced two months ago players have been involved in a rigorous training program. In addition, last weekend, 18 squad members completed a Volleyball referees course. The course is and an essential for both game knowledge and being able to support and officiate during competitions.
High level training will continue this Saturday and Sunday when the volleyball athletes attend their second weekend training camp. A third weekend training camp will be held in early November, shortly before the Canberra tournament.
Go to News Summaries Go to top of this page