Volley Fern Kalea Norton
Photo: Supplied
At just 16 Kalea Norton is the youngest member of the Volley Ferns and she’s got one of the biggest jobs when the team meets Chile on their first overseas tour since 2019.
Norton was recently named in the New Zealand women’s volleyball team for their Chilean tour.
The team is due to touch down in South America today.
Norton is a setter, which is widely regarded as the hardest position in volleyball and carries a huge amount of responsibility.
A setter’s job is to effectively co-ordinate the team’s offensive plays.
Norton will try to get the ball in the sweet spot for her hitters to be able to spike the ball and the Rangitoto College Year 12 student admits is it a pretty overwhelming thought.
“I’m really nervous for it especially because the level is so much higher, it is quite overwhelming.
“But they give me really good feedback …it’s so good, they help me by letting me know after every set, what’s good and bad, too high too low, just right – they’ll acknowledge both.”
She’ll be playing alongside experienced internationals Katie Adamson and Stacey Niao, who is the oldest player named in the team at 30.
Norton was the youngest player named in last year’s National Volleyball League (NVL) draft for Northern Moana, which would have helped prepare her for her first tour.
She said playing in a team that included 40-year-old Anna Harrison, who has played both netball and volleyball for New Zealand, was an amazing experience.
It’s quite remarkable how quickly Norton has taken to the sport considering she first started playing when she was 13.
Norton is also a very good hockey goalkeeper – another key position and has played for Auckland age group teams.
“I’m having a break at the moment because I found it hard playing at that level and having volleyball at the same time I found it hard managing both.
“But I’m going to stay playing hockey for as long as possible but I think volleyball will be the way that I go if I have to chose.”
Volley Ferns Kalea Norton (left) and Marnie Ursem
Photo: Supplied
She stopped playing basketball in Year 10 as juggling three sports becamse too much.
Volley Ferns coach Sebastian Gonzalez Moreno is from Chile and has been trying to prepare the players for what to expect.
“He has said that it’s one of the biggest sports played over there and crowds will be quite big and just to stay calm and confident I guess.
“The training camps have been really good, I’ve definitely got to know a lot more of the players a lot better, even after a few camps, which is really good.”
Marnie Ursem is the second youngest member of the Volley Ferns and like Norton goes to high school on the North Shore.
The Orewa College head girl plays opposite hitter, making the most of her 1.92m frame.
Ursem started playing when she was 14 and always wanted to follow in her older sister’s footsteps.
“She used to be in the team so she’s a big inspiration for me …I always knew I wanted to play because she did. It’s such a fun sport to watch and play,” Ursem said.
The 18-year-old hopes to pick up a scholarship to an American university next year and playing in Chile can only help her achieve that goal.
“I’ve got an agent so I’ve been trying for a little bit I’m still young so I’ve still got heaps of time but it’s definitely what I want to do.”
Ursem said the idea of playing Chile in her first caps for New Zealand was “a bit overwhelming” but was prepared for it after living and breathing volleyball.
“We’ve had three training camps in the lead up and they’ve been really good. I’ve been playing school volleyball over the first three months of the year, then we’ve all played IPC for our regions so I’ve had lots of trainings and sort of haven’t stopped in a while.
“I’m pretty excited to play and see the international level, it is going to be super cool.”
-RNZ
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