Brock's intro to the Full-Time Training centre!!!

The following is a little ditty from my man Brock Davidiuk on the subject of volleyball:


It's been a long time coming, and finally it is here. The full time training center for Team Canada Men's Volleyball commenced the second week of September. After a hiatus of over ten years, coach Glenn Hoag and assistant coach Chris Green along with Team Canada staff have resurrected a fall and winter training regiment for the Senior Men's program. The intention is to bring together the top volleyball athletes in the country to train together for a longer period of time and to develop prospective athletes to compete for the red and white. This fall's instalment boasts 2005-2006 CIS standouts Mark Dodds, Kris Brand, Dallas Soonias, Alexandre Gaumont-Casias, Nicholas Cundy, and Brock Davidiuk; as well as CCAA man child Louis-Pierre Manville. Senior member and leader of the pack is ball control guru Chris Wolfenden.

The center will also be a temporary home for Canada's upper echelon of volleyball athletes as they prepare for World Championships. Paul Duerden joined the center in September and left for pro, but will return soon. Top gunners Terry Martin and Freddie Winters have joined the crew to prepare for Worlds and competitive respective pro seasons in Russia and Korea. As October rolls on so too will the athletes roll in to prepare for the championships in Japan in November and early December, as will coach Glenn Hoag.

Thus far the center has consisted of the lifting and dropping of weights in Ms. Schneider's new Empower warehouse, and perfecting of ball control skills in an increasingly cold Lipsett Hall. This has made for some bone shattering shots to the forearms by the unforgiving arm of Chris Green. The team strives for perfection on and off the court. The standard is "Perfection", something every player must strive to achieve every day. Other area's of discipline the players have adopted is the ingestion of protein, to the max; the study of yoga; rock stylings of Todd Schishler and the Bud Lights; xBox 360; and a healthy dose of LOST.

The gains of the full time center have so far been visible. Whether it be the slender Kris Brand on the bench press, or the whip arm of Nicholas Cundy. Players are held to a high standard in the weight room as goals are insisted upon which include weight gain, weight loss (name of party unmentioned), flexibility gains, nutrition and hydration maintenance, strength gains, and endurance gains. All goals lead to a qualification for the Olympics, as this is the programs most sought after destination. However, the desire to compete on the top international stage keeps the athletes thirsty for competition as they endeavour tedious and repetitive, yet critical skills day in and day out.