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Volleyroos hoping investment pays off

13th October, 2015
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It’s too late for Rio but Volleyball Australia is hoping a private cash injection will help get their women’s team back on to the Olympic stage for the 2020 Games.

Australia’s biggest private hotel investor Dr Jerry Schwartz announced on Monday that his company would join mining magnate Gina Rinehart in investing in volleyball.

Funding to the women’s Australian team was cut completely following the 2004 Athens Olympics, with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) not even providing dollars for a coach.

But thanks to money invested in their high performance program from Rinehart and Kiwi businessman Eric Watson over the past two years, and now Schwartz, the women’s team are getting back on track.

Their world ranking has soared from 100 to 46 while Volleyroo Queenslander Rachel Rourke was named the Most Valuable Player in the Poland league in 2013.

“None of this is possible without the support of people like Dr
Jerry Schwartz,” said Volleyball Australia president Craig Carracher.

“It is fantastic to have someone with his vision and generosity on board.”

The Australian beach volleyball teams and the men’s indoor team, who are all funded, are on the verge of qualifying for Rio.

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Carracher said the booming popularity of indoor volleyball in schools showed there was enough interest and talent for the women’s team to have similar success.

“There’s no reason why we can be medallists in beach volleyball, medallists in men’s indoor and beach volleyball but not that good in women’s indoor,” he said.

“Except for the fact that we’ve had no allocation of funding for more than a dozen years.”

Carracher said he hoped the investment of such noted business moguls would make the ASC take notice when it came to their next round of funding in 2016.

“I think when we turn up and say, `Australia’s noted successful business people male and female are saying we need to do more,’ I think they’re more willing to listen than if it’s just from me; a passionate volleyballer.

“All we want is seed capital to support us to be self-sufficient in the women’s program.”

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