Two years ago, the girls joined forces as a group of friends looking to learn a new sport and now, in year seven, the girls are being coached by Victorian State Coach Colin Priest who is arming them with the skills to take home the title. 

As a team, the girls won the Eureka Schools Championship against schools in Ballarat before they went on to win the Western Zone Country Championships in Horsham in October to earn them the spot in the top eight state teams to play in the state championships. 

But this has all come with hard work and dedication to training. The girls have participated in weekend tournaments outside of school, which led them to win the Moonee Valley Championships in 2017 before coming runners up this year.

Last month, during their September school holidays, the girls emerged winners of the Bendigo Dragon City Championships. The championships, hosted by the Bendigo Volleyball Association, featured entrants from 40 teams from various divisions who travelled from all over Victoria to participate. Also taking part were 10 different Victorian teams who were competing as part of their warm up for the Australian Championships in Queensland. 

Daylesford’s girls finished the round robin part of the competition on top of the ladder before going on to beat Heidelberg and then host team, Bendigo.

Students from Daylesford Secondary College have emerged as powerhouse players in volleyball during the past few years, with their year eight girls finishing runners up at the Western Zone Championships after winning the Eureka Championships. Meanwhile, the year seven and eight boy’s teams both finished third at the Western Zone Championships after they qualified at the Eureka Championships. 

Coach Colin Priest said many of the players in the school’s teams started playing the game while they attended Daylesford Primary School.

“Many of the players started playing at Daylesford Primary School in a special development program run by the Daylesford Volleyball Association over many years and continues at the Secondary College,” he said. “Over the past seven years, some eight players have gone on to play in Victorian State teams.”

Priest said he could foresee several of this year’s players landing places in state teams next year. The State Championships will take place at Dandenong Volleyball Centre on Friday, November 16.