History of volleyball at High

Volleyball first made its appearance as a sport at High in the intra-class competitions in 1922 and 1923. However, it was to be more than 70 years before it reappeared in High’s sporting program.

1995 saw the conjunction of two events essential to the reintroduction of volleyball as a school sport: the arrival of Michael Kay as Head Teacher of science and the opening of the new UTS/SHS sports stadium. Mr Kay started two teams, predominantly from year 8 and year 10. At the opening of the stadium, on 26 April 1995, the Principal, Mr R J Stratford, could therefore announce that the “first impact of the stadium on this school will be the introduction of volleyball to the range of sports that the school offers”.

Teams were fielded from 1996 and some early successes included 1st grade winning the regional final in the CHS knockout in 1997 and again in 1999. In 1998, Jack Chen was selected in the NSW CHS team. In 1999, the 1st grade team made it to the State knockout final only to be defeated by Westfields Sports High School.

Volleyball became an unofficial GPS sport in 2003. Initially only five GPS schools participated. A modified competition was adopted, where schools played each other twice. The 1st grade team’s commitments to the CHS competition meant that 2nd grade played many 1st grade matches throughout the season. High won the competition that year and the 1st grade team became “unofficial” GPS premiers in succeeding years, 2004-2014.

The 1st grade team was also successful in the CHS competition, winning the state knockout title in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2012.

Junior teams were added to the GPS competition in 2010 and then, after 12 years of unofficial competition, in 2015, volleyball became an official GPS sport. Ten schools participated in the inaugural official round robin, including four CAS schools: Trinity, Barker, Knox and Cranbrook. The competition continued to include CAS schools until 2023.

Sydney High Old Boys, headed by Yaegan Doran (2005), donated the Michael Kay Shield as the official trophy for the 1st grade premiership winner. Michael Kay, in addition to starting volleyball at High, became the first convenor for the GPS competition. The shield recognised Mr Kay’s work with initiating volleyball in the GPS competition.

In the first year of official competition, the High 1st grade were GPS champions and, in following years, 2016-2024, were champions or co-premiers on seven occasions (barring 2017, and 2021 when the season was cancelled due to COVID-19).

The 2nd grade team, which had also had its share of successes in the official competition (being premiers in 2015 and 2016), became, in 2019, the inaugural recipient of the Trinh Loi Shield for GPS 2nd grade volleyball. 

By 2013 it was realised that the “days of easy Sydney High domination are closing” with the better organisation of the other schools and that continued changes to the junior program were vital to continued success. This continued success was demonstrated in 2018 when, of the 10 GPS teams, 8 finished in first place and two finished second in their divisions. In 2022, all High teams were undefeated champions in their GPS divisions. The High volleyball success story is arguably unprecedented in GPS sport.

Success in the CHS state knockout competition also continued with High winning in 2016-2020, and 2022 and 2024. 2020 also saw 1st grade take a gold medal in the Opens Division 1 competition at the Australian Volleyball Schools Cup.

High old boys have gone on to represent Australia and enjoy international careers in volleyball.

In 2002, Nigel Panagopka received a full scholarship for volleyball at the Australian Institute of sport, going on to represent Australia at volleyball in 2004-2006. Other national team players include Chris Morrow (2012) who went on to play in Canada, and Arash Dosanjh (year 11 2012) who has played in a variety of teams in Europe, Qatar and, most recently, South Korea.

In the administration of volleyball, Balraj Ougra (2009), an Australian schools representative in 2009, was appointed to the board of directors of Volleyball NSW, in 2024.