Republished with permission from Volleyball Australia.
The Australian Volleyball Academy (AVA) is proud to announce that Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) athlete William D’Arcy will be joining its 2021 athlete cohort.
The 17-year-old started playing Volleyball in 2015 for a volleyball team at Cleveland District State High School. The young athlete then joined Easts Volleyball Club to further his volleyball skills.
“I am really looking forward to working with the Australian Volleyball Academy in 2021”, said Will on his AVA 2021 signing. “It will be a fantastic opportunity to further my playing ability, and to do so at a very high level.”
Will first heard about the AVA through his involvement with the Australian Junior Development Program in 2019.He has since represented his state for Volleyball in the U17s Queensland Maroon team at the Australian Junior Volleyball Championships (AJVC), where his team won gold.
“While we couldn’t get Will on the court representing Queensland in this year due to COVID, he was part of a dominant junior team in 2019 at the Australian Junior Championships”, said Volleyball Queensland’s (VQ) General Manager Gary O’Donnell on Will’s AJVC performance.
AVA Men’s Head Coach Brendan Garlick is looking forward to working with the talented youngster, saying, “Having Will D’Arcy agree to join the AVA is super exciting and follows our aim of recruiting high level international prospects with great personal characteristics”. “Will is most definitely a young guy to keep your eye on.”
Will’s biggest volleyball inspiration are Men’s Volleyroos Tom Edgar and Paul Carroll. He hopes to eventually become a Men’s Volleyroo and represent Australia at the Olympic Games.
“It’s a long journey from junior wins to senior excellence and so heading into a competitive daily training environment will be both a wonderful opportunity but also a significant challenge and we wish Will all the best.”, added VQ GM Gary O’Donnell.
Will also has the support of his family on his big move to Canberra, with his Mother Bernadette remarking, “we have been impressed by the AVA staff’s genuine interest in not only the development of the athlete but also the development of the person”.
Will is set to begin his AVA journey when the program starts up in mid-January at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
The primary objective of the Australian Volleyball Academy (AVA) is to identify and develop Olympic potential athletes for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball. It is the High-Performance Development Program for volleyball and beach volleyball athletes who aspire to reach the elite level of their sport.
For any enquiries, please contact the AVA team at pathways@volleyball.org.au