Personal Statement
I am a cheerful, passionate and driven person. I strive for excellence in all areas that I pursue, including volleyball, extra-curricular activities, school leadership positions, excellence programs, school-based traineeships, and schoolwork. I am an extremely coachable player and a hard-working athlete.
As an athlete, I strive to expand my knowledge and understanding of the game at every opportunity that I get and my becoming a certified volleyball coach and referee has helped me be able to read the game better, identify many different strategies and develop my communication skills.
My volleyball journey started in 2017 when I joined a junior training program that developed skills and techniques which has helped me become the athlete I am today. Since then, I have played in the state team in 2021 and was in the state squad from 2022 to 2024. In 2023, I was invited to the Australian National Development Camp for the U18s national selection team. In 2023 I represented Metropolitan North in the Queensland Representative School Sport Tournament. I have also represented Queensland playing beach volleyball. From 2021 to 2023, I captained my school teams and led us to 4 gold medals consecutively. In the 2023 semi-final, I won the second set 25-1 with a 24-point serving streak and within that was 12 aces. From these competitions, I received 3 MVP awards, and the school awarded us "Team of the Year". I have been loyal to my club since 2017 in the training program, to joining the u15s team when I was 13 in 2021 and moving up since then. In 2023 when I was 15, I was asked to move from the junior competition to the open division 2 team where I played middle. By playing a position other than setter/oppo I have gained experiences that have helped me develop as a setter. This season I played in the open Division 1 team as the starting setter, and I improved with every game.
In addition to volleyball, I also pride myself in my extra-curricular activities such as playing the trombone in multiple school bands and ensembles, other activities include participating in and leading the school's team in the 48km Kokoda Challenge where courage, endurance, mate-ship and sacrifice were all challenged in the 13-hour hike. Signing up to do this event took several hours and weekends of dedicated training walks and preparation
Being chosen to be a school sports captain in a school of over 2000 people was a fantastic opportunity in my high school career as it allowed me to connect with my peers and the wider school community. As a sports leader, I promoted all of the school carnivals with a can-do attitude in school assemblies, assisted with the set-up, running and pack-down of all events and volunteered to help with multiple local junior school sports days.
I have been part of my school's FAST (Ferny Advanced Sporting Teams) program for 3 years. By staying in this program, I keep my grades high and my effort and behaviour marks as "excellent". With the focus sport being touch football in this program, I adapted my volleyball skills of agility, power, speed and reading players. Through this program, I have completed Certificate 2 in sports coaching which includes both theory and practical work, working in groups and individually.
In addition to Certificate 2 in sports coaching, I am currently completing Certificate 3 in Business whilst doing a school-based traineeship. I am doing this Certificate at the Arana Leagues Club which is a community club and as part of the traineeship, I have completed a food safety course, workplace health and safety course, RSA course and communications course. As an employee, I use my skills of teamwork and leadership to effectively communicate with clients and my colleagues.
I excel at reading the opposition team when playing and adjusting to how different teams play. As a setter, it is my responsibility to adapt to various players and their preferences, and my playing in multiple teams has made me learn how to adjust quickly and easily. I pride myself in my team spirit as I am constantly at training early to properly warm up and be ready to give my 100% at all times. During games, I always have a positive attitude even if we aren't winning because I believe that having a good attitude allows you to focus on the points ahead. As a setter, I try my hardest to have constant communication with my hitters so I can adjust and set them what they ask for. I love to give positive affirmations to everyone on the team to have a good bond with them. I believe that having a good connection with my teammates off the court improves the connection and quality of volleyball on the court.
I want to further advance my skills and experiences as a setter in different environments and one day make the Australian Volleyroos team.
