For the love of the game – Penrhos volleyball

by Kenrick Armitage Physical Education Teacher

Penrhos volleyball is once again off to a terrific

start. IGSSA volleyball is always a great way to begin the year and we had a fantastic number of students from every year group filling the Fandry Sports Centre each week, for what turned out to be a really fun filled and successful first semester. Nine Penrhos teams won pennants and the standard of volleyball that our teams demonstrated across all grades was something we can be extremely proud of.

For Penrhos, volleyball does not finish there - coming in Term 3 is the Volleyball WA State Highschool Cup, a competition in which Penrhos has won the Champion Girls School award for the past two years, with fierce competition from many worthy opponents including main rival Rossmoyne Volleyball Academy. Our talented volleyballers have shown the ultimate commitment at trials and training outside of their very busy school schedule, in order to prepare for what we hope will be another successful tournament for the College. We wish the girls the best of luck with their preparation for this high calibre event.

Over recent years, Penrhos has been developing a strong relationship with Reds Volleyball Club, whose philosophy of ‘Good people first, good volleyballers second’ aligns perfectly with the Penrhos volleyball ethos. More than 100 of our students continue their love of the game at Reds, ranging from our youngest Year 3 athletes in their Spike Zone program (based at Penrhos on Friday afternoons), to our Reds Junior League teams who also train here on campus. Our older students - and many alumni - continue to play in the highest divisions of the

Reds Women State League. It is fantastic to see so many of our students develop such a love for the sport and we are proud to be involved with such a wonderful local club that offers our girls excellent opportunities.

In addition to local competitions, many of our students are currently representing WA and Australia in both beach volleyball and indoor programs. State team selections are currently underway and we look forward to celebrating our students who are successful in gaining a place in 2021. We currently have four former students who are now full-time athletes with the Australian Volleyball Academy based at the AIS in Canberra. Tessa Browne (2018), Sarah Burton (2020), Cassie Dodd and Ella Schabort have been training with some of Australia’s best athletes and coaches and it has been thrilling to watch them represent their country, knowing that their journey began right here at Penrhos.

The success of Penrhos volleyball is down to those incredible students who want nothing more than to develop a love for the sport and build upon the very successful and positive culture that our former students have created for them to continue. There is no better example of this then seeing our amazing Penrhos volleyball alumni return to the College and pass on their knowledge as coaches and umpires to some of our youngest athletes in Junior School, right through to our current seniors. For our students to connect with the pride, passion and love these past students have for both the sport and the College sets a great example for our next generation of Penrhos volleyballers.