Mack Hay is among the top junior varsity high school volleyball players in the province, as evidenced by his silver-medal victory at the 2018 Alberta Winter Games held in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo Feb. 16-19.
Hay won the silver medal with the Zone 5 volleyball team, beating out seven other teams selected from the cream of the crop across the province.
“It was really fun, the opening ceremonies were really cool,” he said. “There was a bunch of really good teams that were pretty fun to play against. Some of the best teams I’ve ever competed against, so there was lots of good competition.”
While the towering 15-year-old R.F. Staples student admits he was first disappointed with not winning the gold medal, he said once the weekend began to settle in he began to feel better about his accomplishment.
Hay was one of four Westlock-area residents to qualify for the elite games and the only one to come back with hardware. Also present in Wood Buffalo were Pickardville’s Rees Victoor, who played for the Zone 5 girls team, alongside Zachary Strydhorst and Michael Smith of the Tawatinaw Valley Freeriders, who were representing Zone 7.
Having made new friends over a series of eight practices leading up to the games, starting in November when he made the team, Hay noted that the real prize was the experience he gained playing in a new position.
“Usually I don’t play middle, but I was with this time, so I got to learn a new position,” he said. “Big thanks to my coach, Mike Gordulic for training me.”
He said he had a lot of fun and was looking forward to next volleyball season already.
“I’m going to keep playing school and club volleyball,” he said. “I like how it’s a fast-paced sport. You don’t have a lot of time in-between plays to recover. It’s a really mental game.”
