Bendigo volleyball player Ben Lim is days away from competing in the biggest tournament of his career.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The 15-year-old will represent Victoria this weekend at the Australian Youth Volleyball Championships at Red Energy Arena.
Lim has been playing for around five years and is a product of the Bendigo Academy of Sport, in addition to playing with Phantoms in the State League.
Sport news:
With plenty of experience to his name, he can't wait to showcase his talent as a middle blocker once Team Victoria hits the court on Sunday for their first game against ACT.
"Being part of the Bendigo Academy of Sport has really helped develop my overall skills so that I am able to play at a higher level," Lim said.
"I also played some basketball when I was younger which helped with my overall ball-handling skills."
Lim was named on the U16 team after successfully progressing through a rigorous selection process that involved several weeks of tryouts in Melbourne.
Once he found out that he'd made the final cut was more than ready to embrace the challenge of representing Victoria.
"We're expecting that our team will be up there in the standings and winning gold would be great," he said.
"But teams such as Queensland will be tough to compete against."
Lim said one aspect of the tournament he most looked forward to was playing with new team-mates from across the state.
"Getting to know and making friends with your team-mates is a great part of the sport as there's so much communication involved on the court," he said.
After both the 2021 and 2022 editions of the tournament were cancelled, this year marks the first time the tournament has been held in two years and features teams from ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria.
In total there are 10 divisions across multiple age-groups starting at U14 through to U18 who will be in action at the five-day tournament.
Competition play begins on Sunday and will go for five days, with finals games scheduled for Thursday.
Following the conclusion of the AYVC, the Australian Club Volleyball Championships will then also be held in Bendigo.
The purpose of the inaugural club-based competition is to provide an outlet for associations around Australia to compete against each other in a fun and competitive environment.
The Bendigo Volleyball Association will have several of its members helping run both of the tournaments.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Download our app on iOS and Android
- Bookmark bendigoadvertiser.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter @BgoAddy
- Follow us on Instagram @bendigoadvertiser
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Google News