Trans-tasman battle for the Jenny Kirk Trophy

Trans-tasman battle for the Jenny Kirk Trophy

Junior internationals are back, with five Tests between our New Zealand Junior Women and Australia for the Jenny Kirk Trophy happening in Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland every night from 13 July. 

With international opportunities limited in recent past, coach Sam Ryburn is excited to see his athletes and coaching team's work put to the test: 

"Our goal is to win the series and play really well, which I think is doable. It's really a bit of unknown space, you know, with no international competition for a while a long time - we don't really know much about the Aussies, and they really don't know much about us! said coach Sam Ryburn.

"We've had this group together for about two years, we had two teams competing in the Australian Championships, with one getting gold and one getting bronze. We've had a number of players in our programme, and over the last two years we've narrowed that down to the 12 we have now and we're really ready to have a good crack at this series," said Sam Ryburn.

The teams will be playing for the Jenny Kirk Trophy, named for former international and long term Tauranga volleyball servant, who has been instrumental in making the Tauranga games a special experience for the players and guests. 

"The last name on the trophy was 2012, so this will be really special - Jenny is a real stalwart of the game and has done a lot behind the scenes in Tauranga. Jenny has had a yarn to the the two teams already and told them some stories of her time playing and touring, so passing that experience on is really special, said Sam Ryburn.

All tests are gold coin koha entry - if you're not able to support the team in person, you can catch a live stream here

New Zealand Junior Women v Australia

  • July 13: Tauranga, Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, 7pm
  • July 14: Tauranga, Aquinas Action Centre, 7pm
  • July 16: Hamilton, Cambridge High School, 7pm
  • July 17: Hamilton, Hamilton Boys High School, 7pm
  • July 18: Auckland, Carmel College, 5pm
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