We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. Walt Disney
This was the theme of last week, a chance to look at what we accomplished, say good bye to some very loyal athletes and a chance to send our program into the future. We had three outstanding local players commit to the team. Jodie Baker, Gillian Leech and Mary Thomson.
All three of these players have played in the Storm club program here in Brandon. The program is organised and ran by our local advisors and assistant coaches. Kevin Neufeld, Derek Richels, and Bryce Wilson. All three of these guys have had a huge impact on our program and development of volleyball in Brandon and Manitoba.Jodie Baker is a very physical 6’2” middle player from Crocus High School. Jodie is the younger sister of our third year setter Kellie Baker. We figured that with Kellie’s help we would be able to get Jodie to commit. Jodie is an all around athlete, the basketball coaches in the province were really disappointed to find out she signed a letter of intent for us. Jodie is also a provincial level fast ball player, we can’t wait until we can get her to just train for volleyball and being a volleyball player first and foremost. Like her sister Kellie we expect Jodie to continue playing ball in the summer, but with a strong focus on our team’s weights and dry land. Jodie’s mom played basketball at BU so she had some pressure from there to come here as well.
Gillian Leech is a 5’10” outside attacker from Vincent Massey in Brandon. Gillian and Jodie walked into my class one day to tell me they had made up my mind. It couldn’t have come at a better time. Gillian has a tremendous arm; she hits a very heavy ball. This year Gill committed herself to fitness, she hired a personal trainer and this has made a huge difference in her game. Derek says you can notice the improvement in her jump. It is not that she is jumping a lot higher than she was, just she is jumping at that point at the end of the game not just the first set. That is a big improvement for Gill. Gillian’s mom is a former Olympian so excelling in sport has been in her family for generations.
Mary Thomson is from Crocus as well, she is another great all around athlete, we have recruited Mary to set. Mary is also a strong attacker, on most of her teams she plays on she starts out setting but then they need more offense and ends up swinging. She won the MVP in our midget elite provincial championships as a rightside attacker. She made the team as a setter. I am excited to work with Mary’s athleticism. Mary’s mother and father both played Basketball here at Brandon University. We are starting to get second generation athletes coming back to Brandon. Lucky for us it is in volleyball.
These three athletes are all from Brandon, I have been in contact with the three of them for quite some time. I have watched Jodie and Mary play since they were in Bantam. Gillian was a little later getting into our minds. We questioned a bit her physicality and she has passed that with flying colours the last two year.
I also took time to go through every college teams roster in Ontario and Alberta. WE then compare the roster to the league stats. We hope to find a young athlete who is one of the top players in each league. College transfers are a good way to bring in some experience and leadership. There is always a few players that we miss in CIS who end up taking a college route for a couple of years. This is a good route for some players, it worked well for our captain Jaryn Ruether. She was able to be the go to player, get a high volume of sets and get a strong belief in her skills. I was in particular interested in what the Ontario College league had. In every team there was 1 or 2 players that stood out, but most of the players we in either their 3rd or fourth years. I think it is hard to bring an athlete in for 2 years if they are not going to be drastically better than what we have already.
We need to add a few players to the puzzle to keep improving and getting to a point where we are not one set away from playoffs. We are confident that these 3 players that committed are a step in that direction, we are still looking for 2 maybe 3 more for this year.
Recruiting never ends.
These three athletes are all from Brandon, I have been in contact with the three of them for quite some time. I have watched Jodie and Mary play since they were in Bantam. Gillian was a little later getting into our minds. We questioned a bit her physicality and she has passed that with flying colours the last two year.
I also took time to go through every college teams roster in Ontario and Alberta. WE then compare the roster to the league stats. We hope to find a young athlete who is one of the top players in each league. College transfers are a good way to bring in some experience and leadership. There is always a few players that we miss in CIS who end up taking a college route for a couple of years. This is a good route for some players, it worked well for our captain Jaryn Ruether. She was able to be the go to player, get a high volume of sets and get a strong belief in her skills. I was in particular interested in what the Ontario College league had. In every team there was 1 or 2 players that stood out, but most of the players we in either their 3rd or fourth years. I think it is hard to bring an athlete in for 2 years if they are not going to be drastically better than what we have already.
We need to add a few players to the puzzle to keep improving and getting to a point where we are not one set away from playoffs. We are confident that these 3 players that committed are a step in that direction, we are still looking for 2 maybe 3 more for this year.
Recruiting never ends.
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