Lachlan Scherger, a former member of the Australian Junior Volleyball team, has joined the Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball team and hopes to win the national championship with them in his freshman year.
The volleyball team, who are the back-to-back national champions, are adding Scherger for the 2023/24 season. A middle blocker from Mildura, Australia, he was part of the Greater Melbourne Volleyball Academy (GMVA), regarded as the best volleyball academy in Australia.
Scherger says that he had to travel to make a name for himself and get the attention of bigger teams, ultimately ending with him getting the opportunity to play in the GMVA.
“I started maybe six or seven years ago,” he says. “I am from a little country town in Australia called Mildura. It is pretty low level [volleyball] there, so I had to do a lot of travelling; I did the states [championships] and state league and all that. Then I played in the junior Australian team, I was living in Melbourne and I was training full-time in an academy called GMVA last year and did a few tours before I moved here.”
Scherger had many other offers but ultimately decided to play for Camosun.
“My coach who runs the academy… has a lot of contacts around North America,” says Scherger. “He knows a lot of college coaches and he tries to get you an offer or a scholarship. There was one [offer] from Calgary, one in Edmonton, there were a few, but this was the best one.”
The Chargers’ recent success has given them a reputation that helps bring athletes of Scherger’s calibre to the team.
“I think I am a great team player on the court, I think I bring a lot of good energy,” he says. “Hopefully I can be strong through the middle and get some shots up for us to win some points.”
Scherger says that he expects to make an impact right away to help his team win games this year. Although he had been battling with a knee injury before coming to Canada, he says that he is now ready to play again.
“I had patellar tendinitis in my knee, but I am ready to go, I am actually practicing now,” he says.
Scherger is enrolled in the Business Administration program, majoring in accounting, and he hopes that after graduating, his time in Camosun will give him the opportunity to play professional volleyball.
“Once I get my degree I might try to move back home, or I might get a work visa, I am trying to just get on with the flow,” says Scherger. “I would actually like to do at least one year of professional volleyball if I could, because my coaches in Australia also have contacts in Europe.”
However, before he can realize his wish to play professional volleyball, Scherger is going to have to demonstrate his talent for the Camosun Chargers. And he’s got his eye on helping the team make history by winning three national championships in a row.
“I reckon it would be awesome to get three in a row,” he says, “the hat trick.”