After a relaxing summer break, R.F. Staples senior girls and boys volleyball teams are hitting the court.
Tryouts are now over, and with rosters firming up, both team coaches said that the school can expect another outstanding year of spikes, blocks and quick plays.
“There’s a lot of potential,” said senior boys coach Kyle Beattie.
Playing alongside zone rivals Barrhead, Morinville and Athabasca always sets R.F. Staples up for a challenging year, he added, as many of those teams are regular contenders at provincials.
“Our zone is very strong, so our goal it to make it to provincials and compete,” he said.
To start the season both teams will head to Edmonton this coming weekend for the 2016 U of A/FOG tournament.
The event, said senior girls coach Delia Carlson, helps to set the tone for the season, but her girls have already been performing well in practice.
“They are very skilled girls, so a lot of good basic skills are there. They’re a very strong serving team, some powerful hitters,” Carlson said.
This year’s senior girls team has 10 players, Carlson added, giving them a much tighter dynamic and more individual time on the court.
Though many teams usually field 12, Carlson said that reducing that number will help them go farther and allow the school to field a junior varsity team.
“When you take a squad of 12, it’s fantastic to have the numbers, but for skill development, it’s nicer to have fewer players,” she said.
“Team cohesion becomes a little more sound. Having girls on the junior squad will also leave enough to develop over the years to come.”
Moving forward, both teams will focus on game fundamentals. With fast action and lots of muscle memory, volleyball is a game that’s as much about experience and teamwork as it is physical strength, Carlson added.
“In tryouts, we look for skill, but also looked for personalities. People that will get along together is also very important. It’s about getting it into one package and getting them to work together,” she said.
“A big part of the team that we’ll be looking to work on is our serve reception and passing, getting the balls to where they need to be so they can make the attack — team body cohesion, getting them to work together.
“When you have these outlying schools come together in high school, they’ve played against one another, but now they have to learn to play together.”
Learning to play together, Beattie added, is especially easy when teammates get along, something the boys are already doing well.
“They work hard, but they have fun together. They all get along. There’s not a lot of drama on our boys team. They have fun when they play,” Beattie said.
“It helps to build character. They learn a lot of different stuff about sportsmanship and integrity, which they can develop into leadership.”
St. Mary School is gearing up for another year of volleyball with tryouts and the first round of practices starting this week.
Senior boys coach Vance Nakonechny said that most of last year’s players are ready to get going, only time on the floor will tell how the roster come together.
“From the boys standpoint, it’s very early to tell. We did lose some players last year, but any successful team is always built on defence so the idea of passing and blocking is obviously key,” said the coach.
“We’ll be a younger team this year, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll be any weaker.”
Though the school will field several teams at all levels, he added that competition always runs highest at the senior levels, giving the school’s best athletes a chance to shine.
“Obviously it gets a little more competitive. Along with the girls and then the boys, we’ll be hosting the zone tournaments towards the end of November. That’s always kind of the goal at the start of the year is to be successful at zones,” Nakonechny said.
The girls host tryouts at their first practice on Sept. 7, and senior coach Carina Sturkenboom said that if enough of last year’s players return, St. Mary will see another successful season.
“We lost three girls who graduated, but also had a lot of Grade 9 players,” Sturkenboom said, adding a young squad means long-term growth and success when it comes to high school athletics.
“I’m kind of excited for that. All of the years that we’ve played. We’ve had a very short bench, but I have good hopes for this year. Looking at last year, what would come up from the juniors, we don’t know yet.”
St. Mary has tentatively scheduled its annual home tournament for Oct. 21-22, though an official schedule has yet to be released.
