Asian games the ambition for teenage volleyball stars

By MITCH RODD

SUNRAYSIA volleyballers Kade Zrna and Lachlan Scherger have their sights set on making the Australian Under 18 side to compete at the 2020 Asian Boys Under 18 Volleyball Championships.

The local duo have given themselves the best possible chances of making the dream a reality, having made multiple Australian youth squads that will compete against international opponents.

Kade and Lachlan, both 15, are currently at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra as part of a youth set-up that have trained alongside, and will play against, a touring Japanese Under 21 squad.

Both boys will then head to Thailand for two weeks across April, as part of a squad of 50 of the top youth players in the country, to take part in the Thailand Under 21 National Championships. Fellow Sunraysia Volleyball Inc. (SVI) junior Zoe Smith has been named as a travelling emergency for the female squad.

Both events will be used by coaches as selection indicators for next year’s Asian Games, for which the host nation is yet to be announced.

While Kade experienced the Thai tour in 2018, this is the first time Lachlan has pulled on the green and gold.

His rise up the volleyball ranks is made all the more remarkable by the fact he began playing the game just two years ago, as he told Mildura Weekly this week before heading to Canberra.

“I was playing soccer more at the time and my uncle used to try and get me down (to volleyball) and I’d say no. My good friend Baden Kalms and his Dad also tried and I didn’t, but eventually I gave in and I haven’t looked back,” Lachlan said.

“I’m really excited. I found out about making the youth squad to face Japan about a month ago and then the Thailand tour about another week after that. Both will be a great experience, but I think being invited to the AIS against the Japanese squad is huge, as it is the top 15 or so in our age group.

“I never saw it (representing Australia) coming. While it was something I never ruled out, I just didn’t really think about it.

“I just hope I can fit in with the skill level of the other Aussie guys.”

Both boys are hoping to make the Asian Championships squad, and Kade said this week’s camp with the Japanese side would “be a really good test”.

He added that he hoped last year’s experience of touring Thailand as a bottom-age player would help him improve this year.

“It was great to be part of a really high level competition. It was a great environment and I got looked after really well,” he said.

“The weather was completely different, we were sweating everywhere we walked.

“I wasn’t expecting to get a lot of time as an under age player but I ended up getting about 50 percent court time.”

The 2018 Championships were held in Iran.