Volleyball Career Comes Full Circle for British Columbia’s Fred Winters
Watch for Canada’s team captain in Langley later this month
Langley, BC September 5th, 2013 – Fred Winters is excited to make his triumphant return to British Columbia after a nine year career competing for Canada’s Men’s indoor volleyball team and playing professional volleyball across the globe. The Continental Championship, held every two years, features the best teams from North and Central America. This year’s championship will be held September 23rd – 28th at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, BC.
“I am excited to play in front of friends and family that have not had many chances to see me play in person,” said Fred, captain of the men’s national team. “It has been hard for them to come see me play in far off destinations but for this event I will definitely be looking for extra tickets to accommodate them.”
The competition has been dominated since its inception in 1969 by Cuba and the United States but despite the history Fred is confident in his team’s chances. “Our goal is to win the event. Cuba is not as strong as they used to be and the US is the only team that can challenge us if we play well. It would be great to win our first NORCECA in Canada.” Fred has reason for optimism as his team is coming off the most successful summer since he joined the team. “We’ve gained some good experience over the last couple years and we are playing better as a team. We changed our systems back in 2006 when our current coach Glenn Hoag took over and we have been steadily improving since then but obviously everyone notices it more this summer because of our recent good results.”
The results for Team Canada in 2013 are quite impressive. An 8-2 record in Pool C of the World League featured victories over the Netherlands, Korea, Portugal, and Finland but the match that sticks out was against host country Japan to qualify for the World League finals. “Beating Japan 3-2 to qualify for the World League finals was the highlight of the summer for us,” said Fred, “there was so much pressure and to see our team dominate the 4th and 5th sets was a great feeling.” Once in the World League finals, Canada managed another huge victory over the 2012 Olympic Gold medal winning team from Russia, before bowing out to #1 seeded Brazil to finish 5th, Canada’s highest finish ever at the event. The result helped Canada improve to #11 in world ranking points, up 7 spots from #18.
Fred’s volleyball career took off after moving from North Vancouver (Carson Graham) to Victoria (Claremont) where he won Provincial all-star awards in 1997 and 1998. He credits his high school coach Shon Ryan for getting him excited about the sport and creating an opportunity to play club volleyball. After graduating Fred took the unusual step to the United States, playing four years at Pepperdine University where he amassed 1,525 total kills, including 456 in his senior season. “My coach at Pepperdine helped develop me into a very skilled athlete. I don’t have a bad thing to say about my experience playing there.” After graduating in 2004, he has travelled the world playing in far off countries such as France, Turkey, Russia, South Korea, and Italy. His current team is based in China. “I am going back to play for my team in Beijing for the second year after the Continental Championship. Last year we did well. Fellow Canadian Steve Brinkman and I were the first foreign players in the league and we led our team to its first championship in 30 years.”
While admitting that he is looking ahead to the day that he is finished playing, his feels that job is not done. Fred is looking to lead team Canada to its first Olympic appearance since 1992, when the team finished 9th in Barcelona. The winner of the upcoming Continental Championship qualifies for the 2013 Grand Champions Cup to be held November 19th – 24th in Japan. The event will once again feature the best teams in the world fighting for the world #1 ranking.
About the NORCECA Continental Championship
Nine teams from the FIVB’s North and Central America and Caribbean regions will participate. Among the top men’s teams in the round-robin tournament are the United States (#5 FIVB, #1 NORCECA), Cuba (#5, #2) Canada (#11, #3), Puerto Rico (#20, #4), and Mexico (#23, #5).
The Canadian team is currently in the midst of a two-week tour in Europe for training and matches. Although the final lineups have yet to be released, the Canadian team includes several BC natives, including captain Fred Winters (Victoria), setter Josh Howatson (Victoria) and leftside Gord Perrin (Creston).
The full event schedule is available at http://www.langleyeventscentre.com/continentalvolleyball
Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.ca
The 2013 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship gold-medal team qualifies for the 2013 FIVB Grand Champions Cup to be played November 19th to 24thin Japan. The NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship is held every other year. Cuba is the defending champion; Canada finished third at the last event.
NORCECA is the continental confederation that represents its 35 member countries at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) level. The Confederation is responsible for, among other things, the staging of Olympic and World Championship zone qualification tournaments, as well as Continental Championships for both men and women in Indoor and Beach Volleyball.
For more information:
Brian Hiebert
Communications Manager
Volleyball BC
604-364-2660
