Playing with the boys
A city duo are proving the girls can play with the boys when it comes to beach volleyball.
Ma di Stillman is making a name for herself in a sport that bucks family tradition.
Hockey is the sport that has dominated the male soft he Stillman household. Madi’s father Cory won two Stanley Cups ina 16- year NHL career. Her brother Riley was drafted last month by the NHL’s Florida Panthers. Brother Chase is in the AAA Minor Petes system. Her grandfather Bud Stefanski was a pro hockey player and longtime junior hockey coach. Her uncle Sean Stefanski played junior hockey. Madi’s sport is volleyball. The 16-year-old was recently an alternate for Team Ontario U16 which competed at the national championships. On the beach volleyball court, she and partner Ally Proulx finished fifth at the pro- vincial championships last year. On Saturday, looking for tougher competition, they competed in the open division against boys at the second annual Soul Beach Volleyball City Championships at Beavermead Park.
They beat three boys teams before falling in the final 21-12, 21-19 to Creed Jones and Garret Galvin.
“I sucked at hockey,” Madi Still man said, of her choice to pursue volleyball .“I was always tall and my mom (Mara) played volleyball in high school.”
Stillman and Proulx want to go as far as they can in volleyball so they’re always challenging themselves. They play up an age group in indoor volleyball. They left the Peterborough Thunder to join other clubs that play in a higher division, Stillman is on the Northumberland Breakers and Proulx the Durham Regional Volleyball Club.
After winning the girls’ city beach title last year they wanted a challenge and so joined the boys.
“They should beat us,” Proulx said .“We were just happy to have a good match against them. It’s hard playing against the boys but they give us a good game. We improve each time we play against them.”
“We haven’ t played as much this year as we did last year so we’ re not really used to a good level of competition,” Stillman said. “Playing the boys like Creed and Garret, who are unreal, is great practice.”
“if we can dig the boys then we should be able to dig 16-year-old girls,” said Proulx.
They hope to reach the medal round at provincials in two weeks in Toronto.
Jones said he’s seen them beat older girls so he wasn’t surprised they did so well.
“It’s a testament to their skill level,” Jone said. “I knew they’d be up with us because they’re way past the other girls here. It was a nice challenge to have.”
Jones is a goalie in AAA hockey but started beach volleyball last year and has excelled.
“It’s important to have cross training,” he said. “Hockey is fun but you can’t do it all year-round. I’m glad I found this.”
Soul Beach Volleyball founder and head coach Andrew Hinchey says Proulx and Stillman are excellent athletes but also possess a trait that can’t be taught.
“What has gotten both of them here is their competitive drive,” Hinchey said. “You can teach athletes to be better players but you can’t teach them to have that grit. These girls have that. Ally is a good strong power player who is serious and competitive.
“Madi is really fast and has some great genes. Outside of that she’s got a lot of great ball control and sees the court well. Her passing is excellent. We’ve worked a lot this summer on her attacking and it’s getting better every week.”
More than 100 athletes competed Saturday and Sunday from beginner to provincial level from U10 to U18. The club’s registration has doubled this year to 200.
“We broke the 100 mark last year and this year grew even more with help from the city in getting two more courts. We still had to turn some athletes down,” said Hinchey.
The club meets Monday and Wednesday from 4:30-8:30 p.m.