Teens to play volleyball overseas
Spikes, dinks and float-serves are on the practise list for two teens taking on volleyball at an international level.
Palmerston North Boys’ High School pupils Joseph Mafi and Leejean Engu, both 17, have been selected by Volleyball New Zealand for two different junior men’s tournaments overseas.
Both are headed overseas this month, Joseph, to be part of the squad headed to Florida to compete in the US High Performance Championships, and Leejean is headed to Canberra to compete in the Australian Test Series.
The boys were first selected at the national schools competition for a training camp in April, where camp judges made squad selections for the international teams.
Training includes working on strength, aerobic fitness and skills, and they are also fundraising to cover their costs by selling hot donuts at school and the Sunday Cloverlea Market.
‘‘The camp opened my eyes to some techniques,’’ Leejean said.
‘‘I’d just played volleyball and didn’t get technical, but with experienced players at the camp hitting harder and jumping, it helped inspire me.’’
The Australian team he will face was ‘‘quite good’’, he said, which was an exciting challenge.
‘‘I enjoy the fast pace action of [volleyball]. You get in the zone and you get the feel of it, and it’s fun.’’
Joseph has been playing volleyball for the school since year 9, and is excited to have achieved his goal to be selected for the New Zealand team after a lot of hard work.
‘‘Last year, one of the year 13s [at boy’s high] made it into the New Zealand team, and that motivated me to want to play to that level too.
‘‘I did heaps of training at home. It’s about being the best that you can be at what you love doing.’’