WHEN Jerry Sheader arrived at Kelso High School a decade ago it did not have a volleyball team, but now the coach can boast that three members of his squad rank in the top two percent of Australia’s male teenagers.
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Deau Berry (Pre-Youth) plus Hamish Alexander and Tyler Pears (Youth) were this week named in Volleyball Australia squads.
While Berry has already represented Australia, following in the footsteps of another Kelso student Hayden James who wore green and gold in 2012, now Pears and Alexander have the chance to do so as well.
Macson Alexander, Hamish’s brother, did not make the cut for the Pre-Youth squad, but was considered by national selectors and attended an Australian junior camp with that trio.
“It’s an incredible achievement …. the Aussie program sees that they have a possible future in the sport,” Sheader said.
“Macson Alexander, he’s in Deau’s age group. He got asked to go the camp as well but didn’t get asked to stay on, which is unfortunate because he’s a very talented player.
“Macson was over the moon to be invited, he was just over the moon to be working with the best volleyballers in his age group. At that level, the intensity level of the training sessions is so high because everyone is so focused.
“I hope that the boys can bring that intensity level back to our training sessions.
“Deua – he’s got a big future and he has been given a scholarship to the AIS [Australian Institute of Sport] next year.
“He is playing in a position called the libero and that allows for small players. Deua’s not a big guy, but he’s got probably the biggest jump because he jumps 90 centimetres.”
Prior to those four players attending the national camp, Kelso High made its presence felt at the Australian Schools Volleyball Cup with two teams winning division one gold.
“This year I think is my 10th year at Kelso High. The squad we have now has been training fairly solidly and that we had eight teams that went to the Australian national championships was fantastic,” Sheader said.
“It’s really difficult to explain to people that don’t play volleyball just how big it is Australia-wide. We had 6,000 athletes down in Melbourne and I think 546 teams across 140 different schools.
“It was the biggest school sporting event in the southern hemisphere. So when you look at it and make a comparison that our kids are dealing with those kinds of athletes, it’s really big achievement one, to be asked and two, to be asked to stay on and keep training with the Australian squads.”
