Sunny Franco, 12, met Nikki Cunningham, 15, about six years ago when Sunny's family moved to Thornlands from western Sydney, bonding over a shared love of playing sports in the local cul-de-sac.

Now Sunny has just finished a season playing with the Queensland soccer side and is set to play striker or centre-mid in another state side in January; while Nikki has just wrapped up a successful run with the Queensland volleyball team, only a year after taking up the sport.

A Year 7 student at Thornlands State School, Sunny has just returned from Adelaide where her team lost its first game before winning the rest of the carnival and taking out first place.

Despite missing nearly the whole season last year with a strained groin and torn hamstring, the keen young athlete made a strong return this year.

"I always wanted to play 'boy sports', and I played a lot of softball but soccer is much more fun," she said.

"I play in a rebel team because the local clubs won't let girls play, but I like training to develop my skills and to meet more friends, as well as being selected for the rep teams."

Sunny says Rinaldo is her favourite soccer player, and when she finishes school she'd like to be a professional soccer player for Australia or be a personal sports trainer.

Nikki is in Year 10 at Redlands College, and had her first taste for volleyball with the school's side earlier this year, progressing from winning a carnival in Toowoomba to state side selection and now heading to Melbourne with the state team in early December.

"I used to play netball and do a lot of swimming, but I thought I'd try something new with volleyball," Nikki said.