Ready to attack
Island volleyball squads preparing for indoor, beach competitions in Winnipeg
During the 2005 Canada Games, I recall a columnist writing about a team that wasn’t going to make the crossover round, but played with such energy, enthusiasm and work ethic he was circling their games when making his daily plan.
It was the P.E.I. men’s indoor volleyball team he was talking about, and it is a wonderful reminder that sometimes in sport the journey to the result can be what gets noticed.
There no doubt will be a lot of energy and excitement at the volleyball venues in Winnipeg this summer, with P.E.I. fielding teams in both the men’s and women’s indoor and beach volleyball events.
Indoor volleyball
The men’s indoor team, led by coach Steve Boyd, has been busy preparing for the Games. The team secured a big win last summer at the Eastern Canadians by winning the bronze medal with a hard-fought victory over Team Newfoundland and Labrador, and the preparation has continued into this year.
The team has played some great matches against New Brunswick and Nova Scotia’s Canada Games squads during the past few months and is playing against local college and university players as they prepare for the Games.
They, along with the women’s indoor team, will play at the Canada Games Sport for Life
Centre during the second week. The women’s team has also been doing a lot of training and travelling this spring, including a trip to the club nationals in Edmonton where they got a chance to compete against teams from across Canada. Locally, they’ve attended nearly a tournament per month since December and reached the quarter-finals in each event.
The team is led by coaches Darren and Kate Dawson and their team manager Brenda Millar, who has some previous Games experience as a coach during the 1987 and 1989 Games.
In the coming weeks, the team, which features 12 athletes, will be playing a number of matches against Holland College to hone their skills
for the Games.
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball will make its fourth appearance at the Games after being introduced in 2001, and then offered again in 2009 and 2013.
Although the sport only has a short Games history, this year’s team of Tynan Murphy and Ethan Boyd has some interesting connections to the sport. The team is coached by Lynn Boudreau, who has attended seven Games in four different sports (athletics, biathlon, indoor and beach volleyball) and Tynan’s father Travis coached the first P.E.I. beach volleyball team at the 2001 Games.
Ethan will spend the entire two weeks of the Games in Winnipeg, as he will join the indoor team after the beach event is completed.
Murphy and Boyd have been involved in the Atlantic Beach Tour where they are gaining some experience playing against other top teams in Atlantic Canada.
On the women’s side, the team of Laura Ready and Haley Wilting will be wearing the P.E.I. colours in Winnipeg and will be coached by Cherie Campbell.
The team will play out of the Sargent Park Beach Volleyball Centre and will be in a pool with Quebec, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador. The team continues to train and will compete in some tour events leading up to the Games. Haley brings some Canada Games experience with her as she was part of the indoor volleyball team at the 2013 Games in Sherbrooke, Que.