ASHTON Van Straten has been selected for the Queensland U16s boys squad for volleyball after a successful last few months.
He and his volleyball partner, Thomas Turner – who are both from Glasshouse Christian College – were selected in the Australian team to participate in a development tour in Thailand in April.
Scott Van Straten, Ashton’s father, said he got a lot out of the prestigious development tour.
“He learnt a lot; the Malaysians and the Thai are very quick, a big difference to the Europeans, so he learnt to hit in different places and they are very fast at scooping the ball up,” Scott said.
“He ended up getting captaincy over there for the first time as an Australian captain, so he learnt how to be a leader.
“He’s come leaps and bounds.” In March this year, Ashton also started playing for a Men’s volleyball team in the division one competition.
He is playing for the West Brisbane Warriors and plays against players from 15 years old all the way up to 18 years and older.
“He’s playing in the division one team, so he’s playing against men, but his team is quite young because his coach saw potential in a few younger players like Ashton,” he said.
“The coach saw a lot of talent in these young kids in a division one team and see how they play, they’ve been doing really good.”
Ashton also recently received a local heroes grant from Glass House MP, Andrew Powell, worth $250, which Ashton’s dad said will go to good use.
“It was great to be accepted for this grant, every little bit helps,” he said. “He’s will use the money to buy new volleyball shoes – he’s already grown out of his old pair.”