National schools titles a triumph for Ella

By Tania Martin
ELLA Tromp has taken the first steps towards an international volleyball career.
The Silvan teenager is riding high after helping her team to a bronze medal at the 2008 State School Sport Australia Championships.
For this 14-year-old, making the state team was a dream come true.
Tromp was shocked when she was named in the team earlier this year following a gruelling selection process.
She was one of 12 chosen from a group of 60 girls vying for a spot on the squad.
“It was great … I was so happy to make the team,” Tromp said.
After months of intensive training, Tromp travelled to Adelaide with her teammates to take on squads from the ACT, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales.
The Victorian team put on an awesome display of skill, courage and determination in the week-long tournament.
In the first round, the Vics came out on top defeating the ACT three sets to zero.
But it was a different story in rounds two and three with the girls going down to Queensland and South Australia.
But the Vics pulled themselves together to take out the next two matches against NSW and the ACT.
Losses to the tournament leaders put the Vics in third place at the end of round eight.
The girls then took on NSW in a battle for the bronze medal and took the honours.
Tromp said playing in the state championships was about more than just winning.
“It meant a lot more than just getting a trophy,” she said. “It was great winning the bronze but we learnt so much leading up to that throughout the week.”
Vics coach and Monbulk College teacher Craig Smith said the girls had done a fabulous job.
“There were some really good teams and two (Queensland & SA) were a little further advanced than us,” he said.
“But our goal was to improve, play well and in good spirit and we were able to do that … it was wonderful.”
Smith said the right players had been chosen for the squad.
He said the team was chosen with a number of reasonably tall and athletic players who were able to master different aspects of the game during the pre-tournament training program.
“They are a combination of fantastic kids with a good range of experiences,” Smith said.
“They were all able to gel well as a team … they were able to develop camaraderie and represented their state in such a positive way.”
Tromp was also one of 12 players named in the 2008 honorary Australian team.
For Tromp this was the first of she hopes will be many tournaments.
She hopes to one day play volleyball professionally and dreams of taking a spot on the Australian team.
But first she wants to win a scholarship to play college volleyball in America.