After more than 2000 games, the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup winners were decided, bringing to a close the six day festival of volleyball on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
With more than 390 teams in attendance, the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup returned in sensational fashion after COVID saw the event delivered in a condensed format in 2021.
Volleyball Australia CEO Andrew Dee said it was great to see so many students back playing at the national competition.
“It’s been an amazing week, the atmosphere has been just wonderful, it’s a great spectacle of sport really,” Dee said.
“[The Gold Coast] is quickly becoming the home of volleyball – we’ve got the Australian Beach Volleyball Schools Cup and Australian Youth Beach Volleyball Championships just down the road at Coolangatta.
“This year we had 394 teams…we want to grow to 1000, and the Gold Coast has the capacity to host us,” he said.
With teams from right across the country travelling to take part, Dee said it’s about giving the next generation the opportunity to play sport.
“It’s what we do, we provide opportunities for people to play at the level that they want to play,” Dee said.
“I’ve got a daughter who’s here in the Year 7 Girls Division 2, right through to the kids cheering each other on in the Open Honours divisions.
“It’s a great tournament, but volleyball is a great sport and this is such a great event,” he said.
The prestigious Open Honours Divisions provided thrilling action once again, with Lake Ginnindera (ACT) taking out the Open Honours Boys and Burnside High School (NZ) Open Honours Girls champions.
Lake Ginnindera Open Honours Boys representative Ben Farley said he couldn’t be more proud of his team for their efforts today.
“We got beaten by them 3-0 yesterday, so we were pretty defeated and we weren’t too sure how well we were going to go today,” Farley said.
“We weren’t expecting to come out firing but we did and they put up a good fight…it was a very close game.
“It means a lot to finally win! I’ve never won any competition like this ever before, this medal will definitely be hung on my wall,” he said.
Burnside High School Open Honours Girls captain Rosa Vesty said her team couldn’t have dreamt of a better ending to the competition.
“You can never really think that you’re going to do something, but we knew that we wanted to be here and wanted to work hard to be here,” Vesty said.
“But our coach was really good at making it about the process, and not about the results. So if we played good, then stuff would happen, and if stuff happens then we’d get the reward.
“Our school nationals was cancelled at the start of the year so we never really got the opportunity to go and play at a tournament like this.
“It’s my last year of school, and a couple of the other girls too, so it’s pretty epic to go out on a win before we part ways and go different directions next year,” she said.
For full results from the 2022 Australian Volleyball Schools Cup – click here
2022 Australian Volleyball Schools Cup Champions
Open Honours Girls – Burnside High School (NZ)
Open Honours Boys – Lake Ginninderra College (ACT)
11 Honours Girls – Benowa State High School (QLD)
11 Honours Boys – Hale School (WA)
10 Honours Girls – Heathfield High School (SA)
10 Honours Boys – Brighton Secondary School (SA)
9 Honours Girls – Caloundra State High School (QLD)
9 Honours Boys – Brighton Secondary School (SA)
8 Honours Girls – Benowa State High School (QLD)
8 Honours Boys – Mazenod College (VIC)
Volleyball WA congratulates the athletes from Rossmoyne SHS, Aquinas College, Hale School, Mandurah Baptist College and Penrhos College who represented the state over the six days on the Gold Coast and acknowledges the support from coaches, teachers and parents.
Story Courtesy of Volleyball Australia