Cherwatys set to say goodbye
For the most part, the Cherwaty twins have had a ball together over the past five years at the University of Regina.
Ryan and Nathan — 23-year-old fraternal twins — have been teammates on the Cougars men’s volleyball team since the 2009-10 Canada West season.
Their run is to end this weekend in Kelowna, where the Cougars are to face the UBC Okanagan Heat today and Saturday. Because Regina didn’t qualify for the playoffs, these matches will be the last ones in U of R uniforms for the brothers.
“We’ve always played sports together and having him there for the five years was definitely nice,” said Ryan, a libero.
“It’ll be a special moment, being the last weekend and not knowing if we’ll ever get that opportunity again. It’ll be a moment to treasure for sure.”
The brothers played volleyball together at the club and high school levels before joining their hometown Cougars. At every level, the Cherwatys enjoyed competing against the opposition — and against each other.
Ryan admitted “there’s a compete factor” between the boys because they’re twins, which has made for some interesting moments over the years.
“If you talk to some of the guys on the team, they’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, they’re obviously brothers because they fight on and off the court. But they’re also brothers because the next day there’ll be no problems,’ ” Ryan said with a chuckle.
“There’s definitely a brother rivalry. One’s got to be better than the other.”
Perhaps that’s why Cougars head coach Greg Barthel never had the brothers room together on the road.
That tactic allowed the Cherwatys to get to know their teammates over the years — and that’s what Nathan said will be the toughest thing when his U of R career ends Saturday.
“As much as Ryan and I see each other with volleyball and things, you form other relationships within the team that I’m going to miss very much,” said Nathan, who’s older than Ryan by about 10 minutes.
“Working so much with so many great people, it’s sad to see that come to an end.”
Having said that, Nathan obviously has enjoyed having Ryan around for the past five seasons, as much for the fact that the brothers can be sounding boards of sorts for each other.
The Cougars have a 10-88 record over the Cherwatys’ five seasons in the program, so they’ve been something of a crutch for each other.
“It’s always a good thing to have somebody to talk to who you have a different type of relationship with,” said Nathan, an outside hitter. “You form bonds with a lot of people over the years, but nothing is quite like a family bond.
“To be able to talk to each other about the struggles we’ve had over the five years, I really value that. It has been a good outlet for not only the struggles but the good times, too. To share that with a family member is awesome.”
The brothers have had an opportunity to put their stamp on the program over the years, trying to instil an understanding of the dedication and work ethic required to succeed as student-athletes.
“We had pretty good success in the club and high school systems and then we came to a team that hasn’t had the kind of success that we would prefer,” Ryan said. “That brought on an attitude of ‘Can we change this program so that people take us seriously as a contender?’
“It was almost a challenge to make the team better and, throughout the years, I think we’ve done that.”
Ryan is to graduate in the spring with a bachelor of science degree in biology, while Nathan has a year or two left on his computer science degree.
The five years the brothers spent with the Cougars has allowed them to travel and meet people across the country, but also taught them valuable life lessons they can use in the future.
“It’s almost overwhelming to have something that you’re used to for five years and then all of a sudden have to change,” Nathan said.
“I’ll be going back to school, so I’ll be able to have a quote-unquote normal university experience. But getting to experience both sides of the coin (as a student-athlete and then as just a student) will be a little bit bittersweet.”