Secret’s out: there are some talented volleyball players out here

You heard it here first – there are some gun volleyballers in our neck of the woods.

But we had to wait until South West Sydney Academy of Sport added it to its list of programs to find out what a fertile ground we have for this sport.

The academy volleyball squad has been so successful since its formation it is already achieving representative selections.

It all started with their dominant gold medal winning display at the Regional Academy Games in April where they succeeded in both the senior and junior boys competition.

The volleyballers repeated their success at the recent NSW Regional Academies Championships.

South West academy took out gold in the senior and junior boys competition. The second senior boys team finished in fifth place overall.

In the girls competition, our academy were runners-up in the junior division.

The weekend included exhibition games for our volleyball team against the NSW Phoenix state squads, as a part of their national championship preparation.

Following their excellent performances that produced two golds and a silver, five members were selected in the NSW Phoenix state teams.

Sibelle Hassan, who was awarded the academy’s own Volleyball coaches award for 2022, was named in the NSW U15 Girls side to compete at the nationals in Bendigo, in September.

Hassan will be joined by fellow squad members Serephina Tat (NSW U14 Girls), Unise Blake (NSW U14 Girls), Cody Meisenhofen (NSW U16 Boys) and Michael Bzdegaa (NSW U18 Boys).

These selections, along with the on-court results at both regional academy events, put the local volleyball program at the top of the pops this year.

Their success even caught the eye of Volleyball NSW head of pathways and performance manager Martin Reader.

Nominations for the 2023 volleyball program will be released, alongside the other academy sports programs early September.

For more information visit www.swsas.org.au or email sport@swsas.org.au