Volleyball - Bringing it Back!

While a sports match of any kind is reason for celebration during our current social climate characterized by mask wearing, physical distancing and reduced gatherings, our Senior Boy’s Volleyball team’s recent home game marked an extra special event for our athletics programme.

With Nova Scotia being one of only a handful of jurisdictions which allows interscholastic competitions to take place, volleyball was one of the first sports that received approval thanks to the relatively low number of players and nature of gameplay. When our boys’ team took to the court to host their opponents from West Kings District High School, it marked the end of what had been more than a decade-long hiatus from varsity boys’ volleyball. In the 1990s and early 2000s, long-serving staff member Alan Dick led our boys' programme to much success. In time, however, interest in the sport had waned amongst our senior boys. More recently, however, there has been a resurgence in interest thanks in large part to Coaches Matt Trace and Karlee Sinclair. What began as a recreational programme two years ago and progressed to a team which played a handful of exhibition matches last season, our team is now a full-fledged member of the NSSAF Western League.

On the court, the team is led by Grade 12 Prefect and team captain Patrick Browne with support from experienced players like Noah Szymanis, Mario Meira-Lavoie and Levi Spence. While our team is still rounding into form with a number of players still developing their skills, they did not look out of place against West Kings and even managed to steal a set in the game. With a number of games planned over the next couple of weeks, the boys are hopeful they will fully hit their stride in time for playoff action.