Six students from Rossmoyne Senior High School will be representing Western Australia at the School Sport WA (SSWA) under 15s volleyball team in Adelaide next month.
School Sport WA was established in 1909 with the aim to promote, organise and coordinate supporting competitions for students at local, regional and interstate level.
From the volleyball boys team this year Danyl Mathews, Qi Den Kuan and Bradie Pailthorpe were selected to participate in the championship.
More than 20 girls participated in this year’s trials at the school and it was Phoebe Lewis, Stephanie Mews, Jemah Kelly and Kilani Danusugondo who have been selected to travel to Adelaide in three weeks as part of the 2019 Girls volleyball team.
The students have completed four weekly training sessions at school, including strength and a conditioning session.
The state program will see them complete extra training each week to prepare the team before the main event.
School volleyball coordinator Rory Read said he is looking forward to seeing the hard work the students put in each week being rewarded on the national stage.
“It is a great opportunity for our students to experience a competition at the highest level representing WA,” he said.
According to Mr Read, Rossmoyne has a long tradition of volleyball excellence in WA.
The school is ranked fourth nationally in volleyball and 43 students have represented Australia as well as 100’s of students representing WA.
“The team work and leader- ship skills the students learn through volleyball and these types of tours is very rewarding to see,” he said.
Rossmoyne student Stephanie Mews said it feels amazing to be representing the school in Adelaide.
“It gives us the opportunity to enhance and develop our volleyball skills in a highly competitive environment,” she said.
“It also enables us to showcase the talent coming from the
school through our head coach Rory Read.”
Some of the Rossmoyne student’s hope to play to the best of their abilities, showing good sportsmanship and also having fun.
The team also came up with a three-point scheme to guide them throughout the competition.
‘We is greater than me’ stands for supporting each other.
‘Attacking’ is where they better the ball, be aggressive and not being afraid.
Lastly, ’versatile’ is where they are open to playing a different position, having an open mindset and being able to adjust to change.
School Sport WA volleyball Coach Gareth Whitehead said he is expecting them to work hard for each other and to rise to the challenges that come with competition in a national tournament.
“They’ve already shown that there is a really good depth to the squad and that they are a strong unit,” he said.
“So I am looking forward to seeing them show their range of skills in Adelaide.”
