June 10, 2014: British Columbia’s Fred Winters is looking forward to again playing in front of a home crowd this weekend at UBC’s Doug Mitchell Sports Centre, and he is focused on the task at hand.
“There is always a little added excitement in playing at home, but the team is so focused on recapturing first place in our pool that it’s all business this week,” said Winters, the team’s captain. Canada plays Belgium on Friday and Saturday as the intercontinental round of the 2014 FIVB World League pool play resumes.
Winters’ volleyball career took off after moving from North Vancouver (Carson Graham Secondary) to Victoria (Claremont) where he won Provincial all-star awards in 1997 and 1998. After graduating Winters played in the United States, spending four years at Pepperdine University where he amassed 1,525 total kills, including 456 in his senior season.
The last time Winters played international volleyball in his home province was in 2013 when the Canadian team played a NORCECA event in Langley, finishing second to the U.S. Winters then spent the pro season in Beijing, China. “Playing at home gives friends and family a chance to see what we do year-round in person, and for that reason it’s always a great time,” he said.
Winters is not the only BC native wearing the maple leaf in Vancouver – Gord Perrin of Creston, B.C. is also in town for World League. Perrin looked strong last weekend, contributing 31 points to Canada’s total over the two games. Trinity Western University grad Rudy Verhoeff is also in Vancouver ready to suit up for team Canada this weekend.
With only one loss so far for both Canada and Belgium, this weekend’s FIVB World League matches in Vancouver promise to be intense for both teams.
“After a challenging weekend in Belgium, we still managed to come away with two points from the win on Friday, but were obviously disappointed by Sunday’s loss. The teams in our pool are all tough competitors and the games this weekend promise to be very fast-paced again,” said Canada’s head coach Glenn Hoag.
Although both Canada and Belgium are 3-1, the visitors have 10 points going in to this weekend, while Canada has seven, as a the five-set wins count for one less point each. Finland has four points, and Australia, who faces Canada for the first time in Edmonton, June 20 and 21, has three on the charts.
Belgium’s coach Dominique Baeyens pointed to the matches against Canada in Vancouver as critical to his team’s Pool C chances after his team won 3-1 (33-31, 25-12, 21-25, 25-23) on Sunday in Antwerp. “That we won is important. So we know that we are still in the position to win this pool. We already have a big difference with Australia and Finland, so next week can be important in Vancouver to know how far we can go in this FIVB World League.”
Canada (ranked 11th in the world) won the first contest with Belgium, on Friday in Liege, in a roller-coaster five sets (25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 25-20, 14-16). Previously in Calgary, Canada swept its opening weekend against Finland. Belgium, ranked 37, now sits on top of Pool C in the point standings.
Coach Hoag is also looking forward to playing in front of a supportive crowd in Vancouver. “We are challenging BC fans to be even louder than the enthusiastic support we received in Calgary during our games against Finland. This is a rare opportunity for Canadian fans to witness high-quality volleyball on home soil.”
Tickets are still available at www.ticketmaster.ca
