Illawarra volleyballers return from Queensland showing off plenty of gold

Winning three out of four gold medals on offer at the Australian Junior Beach Volleyball Tour at Caloundra's Bulcock Beach, it's fair to say that local players such as Adax Brienen and Mali Towers have scouts watching their every move on the sand.

In the U21 men division, regular partners Brienen and Adam Fejes took out gold. With both of them still eligible for the U19 division, winning above their age bracket was an extremely impressive feat.

In the U21 women, Mali Towers and Lara Limbrick backed up their win in the same division in Wollongong last season by also finishing first at Caloundra.

Callala Beach and Illawarra Academy of Sport athlete Mirelle Smith and Wollongong's Yasmin Ramos also claimed gold in the under 19 women whilst Hugh Akmacic and Caleb Barnes (both from the Wollongong) took home bronze in the boys U21s competition.

It was a rounding victory for not only New South Wales, but the Illawarra as well.

For Woonona-based Brienen, the victory was a huge step in his career.

"It was definitely exciting for us because that's our first tournament we've ever played in the under 21s and to come out with a really solid victory was pretty good," he said.

"Going into the tournament we didn't really have many expectations. I just go out there and try to have fun and in the end our best got us on the podium.

"It feels amazing to still be so young but we now know we can still battle it with the older people.

Brienen takes influence from his father Patrick, as well as well-known coach Dubravko Akmacic. The pair were extremely successful on the Australian Tour in their younger days in the mid-90s. But now they are guiding the next generation.

But Adax certainly is the future. He even caught the eye of a US scout in Queensland.

"My family, my parents, everyone who supported me meant so much. There were heaps of people that messaged me that they were watching the final, which is pretty sick," he continued.

"There were a couple of scouts up there and there was a coach from America. We had a nice chat and she was very interested in how both Adam and I played, which was pretty cool. She's invited me to this training camp up in Manly this week."

Brienen will have a couple of events in Mollymook and Coolangatta to round out the season, before he gets his head in the books preparing for year 12 and HSC exams in 2024.