The Eudaimonia Blog

Calvin walking onto the court with his team “604” one last time at Nationals (credit: Tanya Hsu)

Calvin was in Grade 10 and beginning to develop a great passion for volleyball. His prior passion was football (the American brand), but that all began to change where he became quite interested in pursuing a future in volleyball. At the time I was coaching his football team, along with three other former professional Canadian Football League players. Cal asked me, “Dad, how do I begin to get connected to university coaches if I want to play volleyball at the next level? How does recruiting work?” I paused, thought a bit and said, “Cal, I have no idea. I know of nobody in the volleyball world who can help you to make it to the next level. However, you are a great football player and you know coaches Dave, Noah and Mike (not me) have played at the professional level and know many of the university coaches. They have the connections… in football… but not in volleyball.” Well for the next year or so Calvin continued to pursue his passion of volleyball, but stayed playing football to get the cross-sport experience. Meanwhile he called coaches of schools that had good volleyball programs and we even looked into the possibility of paying for a recruiting service. I reached out to a few of my contacts in the States, one who knew one of the premier women’s volleyball coaches in the US, but none in the men’s world. But then near the second half of Calvin’s grade 10 year, he had caught word that a new club was forming, one called “604.” Calvin had played club volleyball since grade 8 and also school volleyball since grade 5; however, his club program was mainly coached by “parents,” well-intentioned coaches, with the club seeing a fair amount of coaching turnover each year. On the other hand, the coaches who were forming “604” were young guys who had experience through playing as well as coaching at the university level. This was a really promising possibility. So Calvin tried out for “604” and was selected for the team, along with a handful of his close friends who had played with their previous club together. Within the year, more and more opportunities opened up for Calvin to be seen by university coaches and what is more, given some of his height limitations (my genetic fault), his new coaches, with Calvin’s thoughts, made the brilliant switch to move him to the libero position. The libero is the player with a different coloured jersey and mainly plays defence. He doesn’t need to be tall like your typical university-level volleyball player, because his main job is to move around the court with speed, quickness, intelligence, and “dig” the hits that come his way, to get the ball in the air for his setters to get the ball to the hitters. Despite Calvin being a great hitter at the high school level (his team won school provincials with him being one of the better hitters on his team), his height limitations meant that he would not get many looks at the university level… however,… the libero position was a completely different thing. Calvin would excel in Grade 11 volleyball with “604,” and would participate in some very important “invite-only” tournaments to gain further exposure from universities, and interest started to come in from some nearby schools as well as some more far off. This year for Calvin’s final year of high school volleyball, after losing in the provincials finals in grade 11, 604 won with Calvin being selected as one of two “all-stars.” Plus earlier this year Calvin would commit to playing for the University of British Columbia (UBC), one of his two “dream” schools. What a different place from when Cal asked me in Grade 10 about if I knew of any way to get him more connected to university-level coaches. I am so grateful for “604” and the coaches, Gabe, Dan and Cary who have journeyed with Calvin and provided so much support to him these last couple of years. I’m also amazed at the kindness of God to open doors by His invisible and loving hand of providence, so that Calvin could have before him an opportunity he had always dreamed of, but in other ways could not have even begun to dreamed of. It really is a gift that he will get to continue his volleyball career at the university level at a great school like UBC.

Well, yesterday, “604” lost to the eventual Nationals champions from Ontario. Despite a 22-22 tie in the first set, a few questionable calls did not fall our way and we lost that first set and then the second as well. The Ontario team deserved everything they earned at the tournament; they were great. Nonetheless, there was much sadness that Cal and his teammates wouldn’t finish as Nationals champions, but of course as they say, there are thirty-two of the very best teams in the country at Nationals and only one goes away truly happy. To make it to the quarter-finals was a tremendous accomplishment for our boys. What is more, Tanya and I have so thoroughly enjoyed this great group of kids as well as their parents who have spent a lot of time at tournaments together. Tanya has been the traveling parent, while I mostly stayed back to “mind the ‘Grace Van‘ store.” This sabbatical though gave me the opportunity to travel with the team, Tanya and many other parents to be with Calvin as he played his last high school volleyball game. Thank you Grace Van for this opportunity. We are so proud of the team this week as they played their hearts out every point, to the very last set. We are also so proud of our son who has worked so hard and is so fiercely dedicated to his craft, to grow and develop, to bless others and above all to become a leader of young men. Way to go Calvin! We love you and are so proud of you.

What is more, we are thankful for this great group of “604” boys who represented the province of BC well being our provincial champs. It was important to Calvin to return home with his teammates last night. As for Tanya, Isaac and I who were able to be here to support Calvin, the three of us decided to take an extra day in Calgary to enjoy nearby Banff. What a splendid place (think Psalm 19:1,2 here). It was difficult for me not to worship throughout this Lord’s Day as I recalled the words of Henry David Thoreau who once said of the Bible that it is “a book that is open to the sky.” What a week and what a journey that continues for all of us.