New Trent volleyball coach has plans to build a winner
The Trent Excalibur men’s volleyball coaching position is a part-time job but Colin Walker will be giving it a full-time effort.
Volleyball and teaching are his passion. He’s put 30-plus years into both pursuits. He’ll retire from teaching elementary school in Ottawa at the end of June, opening the door to pursue his longtime ambition to coach university volleyball.
The Excalibur announced last week Walker will replace outgoing coaches Uwe Dienst, who recently returned to his native Germany, and Tyler Scheerhoorn, who accepted a coaching job with a California volleyball academy.
“This is one of the things that’s been on my bucket list for a long time,” said Walker, 54. “I’ve worked 30 years on it and this is an opportunity to check that off.”
He’s at a time in his life where he has the time to tackle it. Pursuing this type of job outside of Ottawa wouldn’t have made sense while he was teaching and raising a family.
“This is the only gig I’m going to have so I’ll be working as if I’m a full-time head coach in terms of hours and intensity of what I’m going to put into it,” he said.
Walker has coached youth volleyball in Ottawa for 30 years, spending the past 12 with the Ottawa Mavericks, most recently coaching their U17 girls high-performance program. Prior to that, he founded the Ottawa Kangaroos volleyball club, now known as the Ottawa Fusion, in 1992. He resurrected the University of Ottawa volleyball team as a student in 1988 and later coached the club but wasn’t able to regain varsity status the university gave up in 1971.
Trent rejoined the OUA after a 12-year absence in 2016. It’s been a challenge. The Excalibur didn’t win a game until their final home game of their fourth season in February 2020.
It was Dienst and Scheerhorn’s first year with the program and they were excited about 2020-21 after a strong recruiting effort brought in six quality athletes. The pandemic wiped out the 2020-21 schedule although players did train together.
Walker believes there’s a foundation to build on with eight to 10 returning players plus those recruits.
“It’s a young program and I like the opportunity to take something new on and make it grow,” he said. “I’m an entrepreneur by heart and I like to be on the leading edge of things. I’m not a follower type of person. I like to learn new things, implement new things and try new things. This gives me a chance to put into practice all the thoughts I’ve had over the last 30 years of how I’d be a good university coach.”
A successful program begins with recruiting.
“It’s about showing the athlete and their families what Trent has to offer. Trent’s athletic scholarship programs are right up there and their academic programs are strong. The big thing is it’s a small ratio of students to teachers in the classroom which appeals to a lot of kids. The atmosphere of the town itself, it’s not a big city school, is an asset as well,” he said. Development is the next key.
“I’m a big learner for life. The thing I spend most of my time on is learning about human performance and what makes successful people,” said Walker. “I’ve taken a lot of that information and implemented it not just in school but also with the athletes. That’s a big thing I can bring to them. There are some tangible things you can do to be successful and maximize your potential. There are skills that can be learned when you have the right mindset. For me it’s to teach them what the growth mindset is and help them learn they are given the autonomy to be in control of their success.”