It was the city’s first appearance in the national finals and the Leeds Gorse Volleyball Club team featured nine students from schools led by the Academy.
In the final at the National Volleyball Centre in Kettering last weekend, the Leeds side defeated the 11-time champions, Richmond, to take gold.
The win followed the runners-up medals achieved the day before by Leeds under-16 boys’ team – making it a very successful weekend all round for the city’s volleyball sides.
Cheryl Rhodes, Partnership Director of Sport, Health and PE at The Gorse Academies Trust, said: “After narrowly missing out on the finals last year, the boys were determined to take the title this year.
"The level of rapid progression and early success has been nothing short of remarkable.
"This is a direct result of hard work, determination and passion for the game from both the coaches and players who have relentlessly put their hearts and souls into volleyball.
“At Gorse we place huge importance on exercise and sport and I would like to thank all our staff and parents for supporting us in this.
"Sport, health and physical activity play an integral part in our schools and in our students’ lives.
"Our Gorse Gets Healthy initiative has had a hugely positive impact in inspiring people to lead healthy lifestyles and embed healthy habits for life, not just in our pupils, but in their families and across our staff body.
"The initiative is now ingrained into the DNA of each academy and good health has become a constant feature within all aspects of academy life.”
The students from Gorse who represented the under-15s were: Essay Mulubrhan, Naby Bangoura, Ionnis Dimitrokopulos and Kishore Arumgam (all from The Ruth Gorse Academy); Josh Cosgrove and Emmanuel Oretoye (both from The Farnley Academy); Bartek Leniart (Bruntcliffe Academy); Ariel Nsanja (Boston Spa Academy); and Adam Chan (The Morley Academy).
There are also 14 Gorse students attending the final round of Yorkshire Interregional trials this weekend, while Josh Cosgrove, Fola Aladese (The Farnley Academy), and Daniella Tchandeu, Krystina Ngatcha (The Ruth Gorse Academy) will be attending trials for the England Youth Commonwealth Games Beach Volleyball teams.
The full match of the under-15s final can be seen through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/live/IMAIAtPemY0?feature=share
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Students and coaches from Leeds Gorse Academies collected their U-15s winners' medals at the national finals in Kettering. Photo: Submitted