Among the elite

LEWISPORTE/CAMPBELLTON -

Once again this year, three area volleyball players will be making the trip to Moncton to play on the Newfoundland and Labrador team at the Elite Volleyball Championships. Holly Patterson, Kelsei Rogers and Amy Lush have been selected to the team which will surely be a trip to remember for the trio.

The three players have been making their mark on their respective local teams, playing a big factor in the success of their school teams.

Holly Patterson

Holly was introduced to volleyball in 2005 by coach Dean Catling. Her love for volleyball was instant. She has played on school teams ever since, competing in tournaments all over the island, provincially and regionally - with her team bringing home many banners and medals along the way, and also winning MVP and All-Star awards.

Holly played on the Lewisporte Collegiate Lynx Volleyball team this past year.

Holly's enthusiasm for volleyball has brought her the desire to coach younger players. She has assisted Catling with his teams at the Lewisporte Middle School and also assisted him in a Provincial Pre-Bantam Volleyball Tournament in Corner Brook in 2008. She has also helped coach one of Greenwood Academy Volleyball Teams at the Provincial 15U Tournament in Grand Falls-Windsor this past spring.

This coming summer will be Holly's third time making the Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Elite Volleyball Team. Each summer she attends a week of team training at the Provincial Training Center in St. John's. After the training the team immediately heads to Moncton via bus to compete in the Eastern Volleyball Challenge for a week. The experience gained being on the Provincial Team has made Holly the player she is today.

In May, Holly had a big decision to make. She found out she was awarded a bursary to attend a French Camp in Quebec for four weeks. he also found out the same week that she had made the Provincial Elite Volleyball Team and that the dates overlapped somewhat. Even though she would have loved to have taken the Quebec trip, volleyball is her passion and the decision therefore was easy.

Amy Lush

Amy began to play volleyball at Greenwood Academy in Campbellton during the school year of 2008-09. Her interest grew very quickly.

Greenwood Academy has been active in volleyball for the past two years and the school has had tremendous success winning several banners. She attributes her success and love of volleyball, to dedication of her coaches, Ambrose Patterson and Jody Curlew and her Greenwood Panthers teammates, helping her to improve and refine her volleyball skills.

Amy has made the Central 15U regional volleyball team two years in a row. She was very excited to find out this year that she made the 15U Newfoundland Labrador Provincial Volleyball Team. She is the first student from Greenwood Academy to accomplish this.

Amy is looking forward to going to St. John's later this summer for training before heading to Moncton to compete in the Eastern Volleyball Challenge for a week. Amy would like to thank coaches, staff and students of Greenwood Academy for their constant support.

Kelsei Rogers

Keslei began playing with the Junior Lynx volleyball team in Grade 6 (10-years-old) and developed a strong passion for the game under the guidance of head coach Catling. She continued to play for this team for the next three years during which time she received numerous selections as team MVP and/or team all-star during various tournaments.

Kelsei also played in the 2008 Newfoundland and Labrador Summer Games on the Central beach volleyball team along with Holly.

Kelsei's first involvement with the Provincial Team program was in the summer of 2007 (at 13-years-old) when she travelled to St. John's for the Provincial selection camp. This summer will be the third consecutive year that she has been selected to the NL Provincial Team to travel to Moncton for the Eastern Elite volleyball tournament.

Kelsei recalls her proudest accomplishment in volleyball thus far was being nominated for the Newfoundland & Labrador Volleyball Association's NL Junior Female volleyball player of the year in 2009.

During the 2009-10 (Grade 10) school year Kelsei played with the Senior Lynx high school team and hopes to continue with volleyball during her remaining high school years. Since she is also doing quite well academically; future developments with volleyball at the university level is a real possibility.

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