Courtesy: Bendigo Advertiser


State sporting representation a family affair

by Kieran Iles

21 Sep 2016

THREE Bendigo siblings are about to notch an unusual sporting double in Brisbane next week.

Sam, Zoe and Mac Hilson will all represent Victoria, but in different sports in a big week of school-age sports action.

Sixteen-year-old Sam will captain Victoria's under-17 team at the Australian Junior Volleyball Championship

Sister Zoe, 14, will represent the under-15 volleyball team, while youngest sibling Mac, 11, will play for Victoria's under-11 futsal team.

It's enough for parents Greg and Nikki to turn next week's second of school holidays into a family holiday of sorts.

Sam and Zoe are members of the Bendigo Academy of Sport, which is heavily represented at the championships.

Twenty-five athletes and three coaches from Bendigo will make the trip north to compete in six age divisions - under-15 men and women, under-17 men and women, and under-19 men and women.

Sam has been playing volleyball for three-and-a-half years, including for his school Girton Grammar on Thursday nights.

The team setter and outsde hitter also plays for the Phantoms volleyball club in state league.

In between volleyball commitments, the multi-talented athlete plays cricket for Bendigo Cricket Club and futsal.

Sam said it was exciting to be part of such a unique sporting scenario.

"The volleyball tournament goes about a week and we play against teams like Queensland and New Zealand, so an international team as well," he said.

"There’s a final at the end the hopefully we can make - it will be a good experience.

"Mac's played twice before (for Victoria) in Sydney and Brisbane.

"It's pretty rare that we're all going to be in the one place."

Zoe has come a long way in a short time in volleyball, reaching the state team a little over 12 months after taking up the sport.

Zoe Hilson
Zoe Hilson
Like her brother Sam, she plays for Girton on Thursday nights and also plays netball for Zodiacs in the Bendigo Strathdale Netball Association.

Mac is scoring goals in his sport of futsal and earlier this year represented Australia at under-11 level in San Francisco at the 2016 US National Futsal Championships.

The 11-year-old also plays soccer for Bendigo FC in the National Premier League Victoria at under-age level.

Further state honours await Mac, when he plays for Victoria at the Futsal nationals in Sydney during January.

Mac was joined in the US by his classmate and Bendigo FC under-12 squad teammate Hamish Walker.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com