Mandurah volleyball star Lewis Peach will be a step closer to achieving his Olympic dream when he represents Australia at a five-star tournament in Switzerland and Amsterdam in the coming months.
The 17-year-old prodigy was picked to play for the nation at the Australian Junior Men's Integrated Development Tour across Europe after impressing for the WA state team, and will kick off his campaign in Gstaad, Switzerland in late June.
The tour incorporates both beach and indoor volleyball, along with a high performance training camp and competition in the Netherlands.
Peach will also get the chance to train up-close with his Australian Olympic heroes, who will on deck to mentor the youngsters as they look to foster the country's next crop of talent.
"It's going to be massive just to train with those guys and have them teach us a heap of new things," Peach said.
"Eventually that's where I want to be, I want to play for Australia, so to learn first-hand from these guys and to just see how they go about their game and their preparation is a huge boost for me.
"It's a really good way to see where I'm at as a player and find out what I need to do to get better."
Peach's volleyball journey began on the courts at Mandurah Baptist College, where he's honed his skills under coach Jay Willcox over the course of his schooling.
Along with his volleyball responsibilities, that have him training six times a week in Perth while also competing on weekends, he's also juggling studying five ATAR subjects in maths, english, health, physics and physical education.
It's a workload that has the young gun putting in plenty of late nights, but one he's hoping puts him in good stead for the future.
"It's pretty hard. I'm doing a lot of study while I'm on the road and it can be difficult to fit it all in," he said.
"But it's good in a way because it teaches you the importance of time management and some of the things off the court that are important."
Peach will be the youngest player to line up for Australia at the tournament, saying his selecting was an exciting reward for effort.
"It's really nice just to be picked for the side, because you work so hard and do so much training," he said.
"It lets you know that you're actually going somewhere and all that work isn't for nothing, so now I'm just excited to get over there and play."
Peach is currently seeking support to fund his trip to the tournament.
Anyone interested in contributing can call Caroline Peach on 0404 789 428.
Justin Rake
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
