Travis Passier (born 26 April 1989) is an Australian

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player. He competed for Australia at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Passier is a 6’10" middle blocker for the

Australia men's national volleyball team The Australia Men's national volleyball team, also known as Volleyball Team Australia Men (VTAM) or the Volleyroos, is the national volleyball team of the volleyball-playing nation of Australia. As of September 2021, they are ranked 28th in the w ...

. His nicknames are T-rannosaurus Pas, Trang pak, and Pasinator, and he speaks Italian and English.

Early life

Travis Passier was born in

Brisbane, Australia Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

on 26 April 1989. He got his primary education at Fairview Heights State School in Queensland, and then attended

Toowoomba State High School (Work and Honour) , established = 12 May 1919 , type = Public, co-educational, secondary day school , principal = Tony Kennedy, (4 October 2016 – present) , city = Toowoomba , state = Queensland , ...

and

Lake Ginninderra College University of Canberra Senior Secondary College Lake Ginninderra, formerly known as Lake Ginninderra College until 2011, is a public secondary college for students in Years 11 and 12. It is located in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia, ...

for his secondary education. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the

University of Canberra The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

.''Travis Passier''. London2012.olympics.com. Web. 2 October 2013. In addition to volleyball, Passier played basketball and was a talented swimmer; "making numerous trips to the Queensland swimming titles."“Travis in Volleyball Move.” ''Toowoomba Chronicle''. 1 January 2005. Print. Passier began playing volleyball “when he was 12 in Toowoomba through his brother and his brother’s high school team needing an extra player, and he was there to watch so (the team) asked him to play." He played his very first game of volleyball “as a Grade 6 Fairview Heights Primary School boy, playing for the Year 8 Mt Lofty side against Harristown High."

Volleyball career

At age 15 he accepted a scholarship to the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

in Canberra where he was the youngest of only 16 volleyball athletes to be awarded a scholarship. He trained at AIS in hopes of reaching his goal of representing Australia at the Olympics. That goal was realized in 2012 when Travis got his chance to help lead the Volleyroos (Australian Men’s National Volleyball Team) to qualify for the Olympics. Passier’s family is very supportive of his volleyball career. His father Len and brother Jake, a former Toowoomba Titan volleyball player, traveled to London to watch him compete for Australia.Drewe, Ben. "Titans Qualify for Olympics." ''Toowoomba Chronicle''. 12 June 2012. Print. Passier started playing professional volleyball for the Toowoomba Titans in the Brisbane Premier Volleyball league.Drewe, Ben. "Passier Hits Home in Preparation." ''Toowoomba Chronicle''. 14 May 2010. Print. Through his playing with the Titans, he got the opportunity to play with the Australian national team. He got his first chance to represent Australia in 2006 and 2007 playing in the Junior and Youth Asian Cup tournaments. He then got his chance to play for the senior Australian National team at the 2008 Asia Cup, and then at the 2009 Asian Championships where he helped lead Australia to a 7th-place finish. When he first joined the senior team he was the youngest member of the squad. In 2010 he went back to his roots with the Titans after finishing the season in Denmark to keep up his skills for the national team trials. After playing for the Titans, Passier moved to Europe for more competitive professional volleyball. Playing in Sweden he finished 3rd in the league with his team, and then went to Denmark and won the Danish league title in 2010 playing for Marienlyst. Currently he plays professionally in Italy for the

M. Roma Volley {{Volleyball club infobox , clubname = M. Roma Volley , image = , nickname = , fullname = , founded = 2006 , ground = Palazzetto dello Sport, Rome , capacity = 3,500 , chairman = {{Flag icon, ITA Massimo Mezzaroma , manager = , league = Italian V ...

S.P.A in the very strong Italian league. Some of his career highlights he says are, "being in the starting 7 (for Australia) for World Championships in Italy in 2010, finishing 2nd at the Olympic Qualification Tournament to make the Olympic Games, and finishing 4th at the 2011 Asian Championships to keep our qualifications for the Games alive."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Passier, Travis Australian men's volleyball players Volleyball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic volleyball players for Australia 1989 births Living people People educated at Toowoomba State High School University of Canberra alumni Sportspeople from Brisbane Sportsmen from Queensland