May sisters hope to spike gold at B.C. Summer Games in Abbotsford
There will be an impressive contingent of Island-based athletes marching in the opening ceremonies next month when the fivering circus finally limps into Rio. The next generation began its journey, with the all the fresh optimism and brashness of youth, on Thursday night in the opening ceremonies of the 2016 B.C. Summer Games in Abbotsford.
“It’s awesome to be marching behind your flagbearer and I’m proud to be wearing the IslandCentral Coast Zone jersey,” said Hannah May, a rising beach volleyball player from Victoria.
Maybe next it will be the B.C. jersey at the Canada Games and, who knows, perhaps the Canada marching kit for the best of these emerging athletes in future Olympics, Commonwealth and Pan Am Games.
You have to begin somewhere, and a lot of athletes with bigger dreams have started their multisport event journeys in the B.C. Games.
“There is so much going on . . . this feels different than a [singlesport] provincials or nationals,” said May.
Twenty-three alumni from the B.C. Games are headed to Rio next month for the 2016 Summer Olympics. They include the likes of Island athletes Hilary Caldwell in swimming, Michael Mason in high jump, Kirsten Sweetland in triathlon and Jamie Broder in beach volleyball.
“Beach volleyball is my passion and I really look up to those players like [Broder],” said May.
May’s sister Gracie is also competing in the B.C. Games at Abbotsford, but in indoor volleyball.
“We’re very competitive and are always competing against each other,” said Hannah May. “But we do different things well. I’m better defensively and Gracie is better offensively.”
The May sisters are among 460 participants in Abbotsford from the Vancouver Island-Central Coast team, of which 213 are from Greater Victoria. That includes athletes, coaches and support staff, which points out the substantial logistical operation this entails.
The May sisters are part of the Victoria Volleyball Association Black squad that has won the provincial title three years in a row and the Belmont team that captured the B.C. junior high school volleyball crown last school season. With Hannah heading into Grade 11 and Gracie into Grade 10, Belmont looks to be poised for championships at the senior secondary level, as well.
The 2016 B.C. Summer Games run through Sunday. The last time they were held in Abbotsford, in 2004, the athletes included Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn from Central Saanich, not on the ice but on the baseball diamond, eventual Olympic-medallist cyclist Gillian Carleton from Victoria and Canadian national-team volleyball power-hitter Shanice Marcelle of Victoria.
The Games connection comes full circle with Marcelle now a mentor to the May sisters: “Shanice drops into our practices and gives us so many tips,” said Hannah May.
The new generation in Abbotsford includes the likes of 15-yearold breakthrough golfer Nolan Thoroughgood of Royal Colwood, the Royal Bay student last week crowned the youngest winner in the 114-year history of the B.C. Men’s Amateur Championship. It’s been a whirlwind week for Thoroughgood. He was the guest of honour on men’s night Wednesday at Royal Colwood. The next morning, he was part of the large group picked up at the Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre and bused and ferried to Abbotsford for the Games. The Games golf tournament will be played Saturday and Sunday at Ledgview.