Like a lot of young people, Ben was first inspired to give the sport a try when he saw some videos online. He first started playing for Hale School when he was in year seven competing in the Public Schools Association (PSA) events and quickly fell in love with it.
Ben has had several highlights in his career so far which have included; traveling around the country to compete on the Australian Beach Volleyball Tour, winning two silver medals for U19s, winning Open Honour Boys at Australian Volleyball Schools Cup, and playing for WA in the U23’s.
Ben did say, “more than any medals or competition the most fun I’ve had is traveling and competing with all the other boys, all the little things like the bus rides and having dinners together is what makes the experience so good.”
Ben dreams of playing for Australia, being a full-time athlete competing overseas one day but first he just wants to gradually improve and acknowledges, “at the end of the day it’s all a competition against myself and how far I want to take it, I’m still young and I don’t have to worry too much about the future I just have to believe I’ll get there eventually.”
For now, he is excited to be an Australian Volleyball Academy athlete, training every day in the morning and afternoon, doing three gym sessions every week, and playing competitions on the weekends. In addition to the physical training he attends courses to prepare him for the high-performance athlete lifestyle, the program is mostly about preparing athletes to go overseas and survive in a very intense competitive environment. He admits that at times it can seem overwhelming, it’s definitely not an easy way to live but it can be very rewarding when you get to travel around the world and experience things that most people probably never will.
All this aside Ben loves the environment on the court, having every player so close together and everyone being a part of the game at all times. He also loves the physicality, it’s all about challenging yourself to see what your body is capable of doing.