We have two more National Champions at GCC. What an amazing week Aiden McKellar and JD Theron had at the School Sport Australia National Volleyball Championships (18-24 August), held in Bendigo, Victoria.
The boys were selected through District Trials to play in the 12-15 Years Sunshine Coast Regional Volleyball Team and won the Silver Medal at the School Sport State Volleyball Championships in May. Following this event they were selected for the U15 QLD Schoolboys team and have been training at Indooroopilly since June. The boys also train at the Queensland Academy of Sport Emerging Talent Program at Mountain Creek and both have been part of Volleyball Queensland AJVC training squad, with Aiden being selected for the U17 AJVC White State Team, a huge opportunity and commitment from both the boys and their parents.
The Queensland Schoolboys team had an amazing tournament and were dominant in most of their games. They played eleven games over the week and won all but one game which was very close, losing 3-2 to NSW in the first round. This was only the second game of the tournament and the team went on to convincingly beat every team including NSW who they beat 3-0 in the second round.
Their dominance showed in the results with Queensland scoring 28 out of a possible 30 points. These great performances put them in the Gold Medal final against South Australia who had lost two games previously. The final was a very close game with there being no more than four points between the teams in all of the four sets played. South Australia began strongly and won the first set 25 – 21 but then the Queensland boys dug deep and won the next three sets to deservedly win the final and the Gold Medal three sets to one. Over the tournament the boys won 32 sets and lost only seven which is a very impressive result. Here’s a news article about Queensland’s victory in both the boys and girls finals.
Aiden and JD had an amazing experience at the tournament and we’re very proud of their team’s effort. They both played important roles with Aiden playing middle and JD playing pass-hit and oppo. They look forward to more opportunities to compete at this level in both school, state and national events. They have bright futures in volleyball and we look forward to seeing where their talent and dedication takes them.