My First Year on the Island

I am now at the backend of my first semester here in Canada playing for the Vancouver Island University Mariners. What an experience it has been. I have had an absolute blast here and time has flown. ​

I had no idea what to expect when I got here and like everyone I was pretty nervous. But as soon as I got to the island I fell in love with the place. I knew I was ready from having a great year of training in the GMVA Centre Of Excellence with Luke and was ready for the challenges ahead. Everyone I have met here has been incredible, especially my team. Abe and the rest of the guys here have been great to let me into their mariner culture with open arms and I’m grateful for everything they have done for me here so far. The Mariner family is the best fit for me by far, and I wouldn’t of enjoyed coming to Canada as much going anywhere else. The culture at this univeristy reminds me of the culture at the Yarra Rangers Volleyball Club back home and how being a good person who works hard, in a tight knit club is much more meaningful than your ability on court. Especially because I have been away from my friends and family, I found it really tough not seeing them for such a  long time. And being homesick around the December - January was tough knowing that everyone was at the beach in the great weather and I was here in the pouring rain doing study was hard. But the guys helped me work through it and turned it into such a positive experience that the homesickness wore off pretty quick. But nothing could of got me more homesick than watching the TIGES win the grand final !! The one year I am not there to see it. That’s just cruel I say. The team came over and we were all able to watch it live, but best of all, Abe the coach watched it back at his house and was messaging me back and forth about the game even though he probably had no idea what was going on. ​

Growing up fast happens when you don’t have your parents doing everything for you anymore. Cooking, cleaning, buying groceries, eating all of your groceries way too quickly and buying more, as well as washing is some things that hadn’t really done before much in my life (except the eating). It was all about getting in a routine and staying organised. This helped with school, which helped with volleyball. Luckily I found a place to live walking distance to the university and the shops because I don’t have a car here. I lived in a basement in a dorm style room and a tiny single bed. It was all I needed but after awhile was getting pretty lonely.  After my second month here I moved into a different house down the street with one of my teammates Zach (Who played with Curtis Stockton at COTR). I didn’t have to sleep in my small singe bed anymore as I got my own king in a much bigger room for the exact same price. Making the move was the greatest decision I did because I was now in the loop with everything and was able to get lifts a lot. ​

Our entire starting lineup made it on either the first or second all star team in our province, which made it hard to get large amounts of game time throughout the season. For myself, it wasn’t about the game time as much as it was the learning experience and I was excited and pumped to get a shot when I did. I got minutes nearly every game, got to start in 2 home games and played an entire game. I can remember the first time I came on court. I was starting in a set later in the match and I knew I was ready. I ended up having 100% kill efficiency for the short period I was on but I loved every moment of it. My greatest game was our last home game. I was able to start and play the entire game. I finished with a pretty good game hitting 16 kills and 2 blocks. Again I was just grateful for my opportunity and happy I made something of it. ​

We had a fantastic season going 21-3 to finish top in our province. And for weeks we were 1st in the National Ranking. Sadly we lost our provincial final to our island rivals Camosun, but because they were hosting nationals, we were able to qualify to play in the National Championships. Overall we came 5th at Nats but still competing with the top 2 teams and showing how close we were to reach the gold. 

Even though it wasn’t what we hope for, it was still a hell of a great season.

Overall this year I have learnt so much not only about volleyball, but also life and how to become an independent adult.  The experiences I’ve had here, money could not buy and I am looking forward to coming back next year and hopefully pushing for the gold both at Provincials and Nationals 

Thanks for reading
Josh