Junior volleyballers off to Gold Coast

Excitement is building for five Volleyball Horsham members as they prepare for the 2017 National Junior Volleyball Championships on the Gold Coast starting this weekend.

Returning for their second national titles are Will Brennan, Aidan O’connor, John Kearns and Cleo Baker, while Noah Brennan will be lining up for his first.

Will and Aidan will be playing as bottom-aged players in the Vic West under-17 boys team, while John and Noah will be in the Vic West under-15 team. Baker will be in the Vic East under-15 team.

Aidan will captain his team, which is a great feather in his cap and underlines his standing among his peers. All five players progressed through three weeks of selection trials in May. They then set off on their respective training programs at the start of June, with trainings divided between Dandenong, Bendigo and Traralgon, in the case of Baker.

They completed their training at the State Volleyball Centre in Dandenong on Sunday. The players have all improved significantly over the course of the training program, which can be seen in the way they play in their domestic teams.

They bring back with them great skills, which in turn they put into practice with their local team-mates, which then lifts the standard of competition in which they play. Volleyball Horsham has been extremely fortunate over the course of many years to be able to produce players good enough to play at national level.

This in turn has boosted the competitiveness of all our teams, which is reflective of the results teams have achieved. To be able to have players competing in division one of the country championships and even at state league level is testament to those who have taken the opportunity to play at national level.

Another positive from a Volleyball Horsham perspective is the number of parents involved as team managers. Murtoa College’s Jo Baker will look after the Vic East girls, while St Brigid’s College’s Fern Brennan will support the Vic West under-17 boys.

Volleyball Horsham’s top female player Kara Johnson will be the assistant coach for the Vic West under-17 girls team and she will have fellow Phantoms player Kate Eason supporting her.

The championships start on Sunday night with Cleo Baker’s Vic East team playing arch rival South Australia at 5pm. Matches continue through the week with finals scheduled for September 29 and 30.