Volta the bolter

By Jarrod Potter
The 18-year-old is already well known in the area as an Eastern Ranges midfielder and AFL draft hopeful, but he boosted his draft claims last Tuesday by winning the 100-metres sprint at the School Sport Victoria Secondary State Track and Field Championships.
Volta ran the 100m final in 11.8 seconds at the Albert Park course – a time that he doesn’t think is all that impressive.
“I almost missed the race,” Volta said.
“My mate picked me up a little bit late. I ran straight over and was ready to go.
“I just ran, I pretty much didn’t think about it and it was all over just like that.”
A big headwind on the day slowed him down.
“My personal best I ran at the level before and it was a 10.8,” he said.
Speed is one of Volta’s great weapons on the footy field as well as the track.
“So I can break the lines and open the game up a bit,” he said.
“I played the whole year through the midfield, and that was really good.
“I suppose these days any position is a running position the way the game is going.”
Volta played every Ranges game this season with the first Eastern match against the Geelong Falcons standing out to him as his best effort.
His complete season repeats the same achievement from 2010, which is a rare feat at the TAC Cup level.
Volta’s hard work paid dividends when he was selected to play in the VFL for the Box Hill Hawks as their 23rd man against the Bendigo Bombers.
“The experience was amazing,” Volta said.
“It opens your eyes. Playing one game in the VFL makes you want to strive to get there and play against those blokes again.
“People say it isn’t such a step up, but it’s a huge step up.
“You could be athletically better than everyone else there, but they’re all just so smart and so much stronger.
“You could be quicker than a bloke, but he’s two steps ahead of you – it’s unbelievable.”
Volta was invited to participate in the Victorian state draft combine on Saturday 8 October and performed well despite shin splints hampering his mobility.
He recorded an 83cm vertical leap and an 8.6 second run in the agility test.
“I went pretty well, was happy with it,” Volta said.
“Across the board I was pretty consistent in the testing.”
“They did the beep test, but I had shin splints so I didn’t run it. I always get them at the end of pre-season, and they go away pretty quickly, but they came back at the end of this year for the last three rounds so I’ve just been trying to manage them since then.
“Probably the last two rounds they were at their worst – feels like I’m playing with broken legs.”
Volta hasn’t received much indication yet that he’ll be drafted, with only Geelong contacting him directly, but he’s keeping his hopes up that he’ll make it onto an AFL list.
“I’m not really expecting to get drafted – I’m hoping to get rookie listed,” he said.
If the AFL doesn’t come calling for Volta, he plans on forging a career with either Box Hill or the Casey Scorpions if they decide he’s the right fit for them.
“Back in the day if you didn’t get picked up as an 18-year-old, that was it,” he said.
“But now they’re picking up blokes like (Michael) Barlow and (James) Podsiadly.
“It’s all mindset; just keep telling yourself it’s never over and not if you get drafted but when.”
The characteristic Volta embodies most is an overwhelmingly positive disposition, which has guided him to this crossroad in his football career and will carry him onwards even if the AFL isn’t on his cards.
“I’ve always thought if you’ve got it and you work hard enough, it doesn’t matter where you are,” he said.
“I’m just hoping there’s one club out there who’s kept an eye on me throughout the whole journey and thinks ‘yeah we’ll take a risk on this bloke’ whether it’s rookie list or in the draft.”