BACKFollowing their win at the New Zealand Secondary School Beach Volleyball National Championships, Year 13 students, Kaia Buckley, Kiana Stevenson, Juan Carlos Quintero, and Ryan Jefferson qualified for Secondary School World Championships in Bat Yam, Israel. This proved a great opportunity for our students to perform on the world stage!
They left for this trip in early May and arrived to the sun, heat, and beautiful, white sandy beaches of Israel.
This was the experience and trip of a lifetime where they came face to face with many different cultures, met many new people, played a high level of beach volleyball, and represented the school to a high level.
The tournament itself was an amazing experience and far exceeded their expectations. They all enjoyed an incredible opening and closing ceremony, a cultural day which was a trip to Jaffa, a town just south of Tel Aviv, and a nations night where all the countries came together to show their culture and traditions and exchange goods from their countries to others.
The students would like to show gratitude to Rangitoto College for providing them with this opportunity and to their volleyball crew which is a second family to them—for always being there, helping them with their training, pushing them to do their best, and for never failing to have their backs. It was also amazing to have Rangitoto College staff member and the backbone of all things volleyball, Alan Kerr, travel to the World Champs with the team, where he provided great advice, coaching, and continued support.
