Forres Academy pupil Holly Gray’s performances for her Forres Solstice Wolves volleyball team earns the 15-year-old an international call-up for Scotland
Watching a sports anime programme spiked a Moray schoolgirl’s interest in volleyball - now she’s a Scottish international.
Forres Academy pupil Holly Gray has been selected for her country’s under-18 squad at the tender age of 15.
Her starring performances as an outside hitter for the Forres Solstice Wolves club attracted the attention of the Scotland selectors.
And when she helped her team win the Scottish Volleyball Plate in Edinburgh last year, a call-up to the international team wasn’t far away.
Holly is getting ready to jet to Malta this month and play for Scotland in a tournament - on her 16th birthday.
“When I found out I’d made the squad I was very happy - and a bit shocked,” she said.
“I didn't think I was going to get chosen because of the position that I play is very competitive. And I thought they were only going to bring like three or four outside hitters, but they’re taking more.
“I've only started playing outside hitter very recently because I play setter for the under-16 team.
“But I prefer hitting - it’s more flashy!”
“At training I asked to switch to hitter. And one of the coaches saw me hit once and he told me I was definitely a hitter.”
Holly has been playing volleyball for less than four years, and remembers it was a TV programme that first got her interested.
“I started watching this TV show called Haikyuu. It’s an anime kind of thing and they played volleyball in it.
“It’s probably not the most normal way to get into a sport but I thought it looked like fun
Probably not the most usual start for a sport, but...It just seems quite fun. That was a while before I started playing, it wasn’t until I joined the academy that I realised they had a club.
“I really enjoyed playing straight away. I knew that it was for me, definitely.”
Holly’s club is connected to Forres Academy but are backed by Active Schools and play in the Junior Scottish Volleyball League, and she stars for both their under-16 and under-18 teams.
She said: “It's a challenging sport but I don't remember finding it ridiculously difficult at first. I probably find it more difficult now, trying to get correct form and everything.
“I probably started to get quite good about a year ago. My hits and my serves were really coming through.
“I can jump serve, my hits were going down hard. Diving and receiving was getting a lot better, and my setting was getting really good.”
Holly had to put herself forward for the Scottish development squad, and her dedication to her sport has paid off by being picked as one of the youngest members of the under-18 international team.
Scotland will play two group matches against England and San Marino in their efforts to reach the knockout stages.
Training on a weekly basis involves two club nights and an additional recreational session with older players, where she enjoys pitting her wits against more physical male players and experienced participants.
“The skill is a lot more harder hits because it's mixed. The men just serve so hard. I don't know how nobody can ever return that.”
As well as all her training during the week, each Sunday sees Holly either playing league matches across the country or travelling to take part in development training with the Scotland squad.
Now she’ll be striking out for Scotland in the biggest match of her life, with her friends and family able to watch her in action back home in Moray.
“It gets livestreamed on the CEV YouTube channel,” she said. “And we play two games on my birthday.”
She said her Wolves coaches Perry Johnson and Will Custodio have been a major influence in her volleyball, along with school teacher Stuart Wynne who played the sport himself and provided great encouragement.
And she is grateful to her grandad Cherry Falconer for all of his support over the years.
