Chargers men's volleyball ready to serve it up this sea

The Chargers have been in the Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) Championship final a record six years in a row and, while winning four of them, fell to the VIU Mariners two years ago, settling for silver. This year’s team is stacked with talent and a mixture of skill, experience, and youthful exuberance and the Chargers are poised to reclaim the conference crown.

“No one used any eligibility last season due to COVID, so we have everyone back. We were also fortunate enough to sign a number of tall, talented first-year athletes,” says Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball Head Coach, Charles Parkinson. “Many of our student-athletes have experience in the PACWEST, the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC), and in USport programs, as a few trained with us all last season but didn’t get to compete because of the cancellation of the season, while others are fresh out of high school.”

Parkinson adds: “This is one of the deepest teams we’ve ever had and I could put a different line-up on the court on three different nights and not see an appreciable drop in the quality of play.”

Providing leadership are middles Lorenz Vogel (Claremont Secondary) and Dale MacDonell (Pacific Christian High School) as well as a couple of fifth-year veterans, leftside Morgan Humphreys (Reynolds Secondary School) and opposite Vitor Pereira (Izabela Hendrix). Joining them are leftsides Eduardo Bida (Colegio Gabarito) and Manitoban Brendan Folkerts (MBCI).

Bida and Pereira make up the squad’s unique Brazilian connection and bring a wealth of power and skill to the Chargers line-up. Both have been named PACWEST First Team League All-Stars, Players of the Week, and Provincial Championship All Stars and can’t wait to represent Camosun on the court again after an extended off-season.

A number of additional athletes make up the list of returnees, including:

• Former President’s Cup winner for excellence in academics and athletics, Graham Basi (Reynolds Secondary);
• Mitch Whittla (Royal Bay Secondary), whose versatility has allowed him to play leftside, middle, and now setter for the Chargers;
• Kyle Butterworth (Okanagan Mission) from Kelowna who will be playing setter and left side;
• Provincial Championship All Star Libero Kristofer La Guardia (Vancouver College) from Vancouver;
• Calgarian, Liam Conlin (Masters Academy), who will play on the right side; and,
• Local libero Gerry Peng (Claremont Secondary), a former Chargers Red Shirt, earned a position on the squad through his hard work.

Oak Bay High School star Seth Baker and Provincial Team stand-out Jacob Ringma (Centennial Christian) joined the Chargers last season, but will see their first PACWEST match action as the league resumes play. With some 90 training sessions last year under their belts from last season, they are poised and motivated to make their presence felt in the league.

Joining the Chargers in 2021-22 are four newcomers, including:

• Second year athlete and former Youth National Team member Luke de Greeff (Lambrick Park Secondary), who spent last year with York University in USport;
• De Greeff will be heading off to compete for Canada in an International Beach Volleyball tournament during the season;
• Provincial Team setter Lucas Maffia (Oak Bay High School);
• <iddle Kieran Dunning (Claremont Secondary), whose father is a Camosun faculty member, and,
• Fellow Criminal Justice program member Chase Cooke (Reynolds Secondary), whose length and versatility allow him to play outside and in the middle, and whose father was also a post-secondary volleyball player.

“Most young players are a bit raw coming into the PACWEST and lack the refinement and experience to step onto the court right away at this level,” states Parkinson. “This year and last, though, we picked up some excellent athletes who have been really well prepared for play at the higher level, which is a testament to the coaches in this community. They all have an outstanding work ethic, spend focused time in the weight room to improve their strength and power, are committed to the process of excellence, and in my opinion, could step onto the court right now and do well.”

While the Chargers have two international student-athletes, Parkinson is an active proponent of including local talent, and this year a record 10 student-athletes hail from the Capital Region.

“Part of our philosophy is trying to encourage local development with the Chargers as a carrot at the end of the stick,” comments Parkinson. “We are the only volleyball in town at the post-secondary level, as the University of Victoria does not have a program, and I believe it’s important that these athletes see that they have a destination in post-secondary volleyball.”

“If you look at our starting line up on paper, it’s going to be really, really tough for our rivals to beat us, even though many are tired of seeing us in the finals and have stacked their squads to take us down,” he adds. “What we have to do is translate what’s on paper to the court and that’s always the trick. If the level of motivation and the quality of performance is any indication, especially this early in the season, I believe we can go all the way.”

Parkinson is entering his crystal year (15) as head coach of the men’s volleyball team and backing him up on the bench are Camosun alumni Rian Plante and long-time Camosun instructor and Assistant Coach Gord Inglis, who is entering his tenth year with the team. Tending to the players needs are Athletic Therapists Andrew Hunter and Matt Herman.

Fans can catch the Chargers volleyball season openers on Friday, Nov. 19 at the Pacific Institute of Sports Excellence (PISE) at the Interurban campus. The men serve it up against the reigning National Champion, Capilano Blues, at 8:00pm.

The cost to attend Chargers games are:

• Camosun Students (with student ID) – FREE
• Non-Camosun Students (with student ID) - $4
• Adults - $6
• Seniors - $4
• Youth (13-17) - $4
• Children (12 and under) - FREE

All Camosun Chargers home games can be live streamed on the Chargers YouTube channel.

The full PACWEST schedule can be found on their website at www.pacwestbc.ca; all games are live streamed at sportscanada.tv.

The Camosun Chargers Athletics Program currently fields teams in basketball and volleyball. Since joining the Canadian Collegiate Athletics Association (CCAA) and PACWEST conferences in 1994, the Chargers have competed in over 100 national and provincial championships with over 50 medal winning finishes.