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A journey that began at age 15 with the Victoria Volleyball Association, and on the floorboards of the Royal Oak Middle School gym, ended Wednesday for Fred Winters in Rio with a 3-0 straight-set quarter-final loss to defending Olympic champion Russia.
But the 33-year-old Winters can leave the Olympic court with his head held high.
What Ryan Cochrane of Victoria did for Canadian swimming, Winters did for Canadian volleyball. sa国际传媒 won only three medals in the Olympic pool from Athens in 2004 to London in 2012 and Cochrane won two of them. But that was enough of a thread to keep things afloat until the six-medal Canadian swimming outburst this year at the Rio Olympics.
In the same fashion, Winters displayed dedication and persistence as Canadian men鈥檚 volleyball team captain through three previous failed attempts to qualify for the Olympics. After all those years of leading the team, Winters was nearing the end of his international tenure when he was left off the qualifying roster this year just as sa国际传媒 finally broke through to the Olympics for the first time since Barcelona in 1992. But after all he had contributed, coaches could not deny Winters his dream of the Olympics and so he was added to the roster for the Rio Games and a younger player dropped.
But this was more than just charity. Coaches knew Winters鈥� veteran presence was a more valuable asset in the crucible of Olympic play than just a young player gaining experience. There is sweat on his resum茅 from courts all over the world.
鈥淚鈥檝e played in all the big matches over 14 years,鈥� said Winters, citing Claremont Secondary coach Shon Ryan as among his major influences in volleyball.
鈥淸Being in the Olympics] was definitely emotional for my family and friends. It鈥檚 a nice way to cap off my career. But I [wasn鈥檛] just satisfied to make it.鈥�
The No. 12 Canadians indeed weren鈥檛 satisfied with just being in Rio, as they upset world No. 4 Italy and the No. 5 U.S. in pool play to qualify for the quarter-finals before meeting their betters in a comprehensive 25-15, 25-20, 25-18 loss to the clinical and precise No. 3 Russians.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough to take a loss like that in stride. We had bigger ambitions for ourselves, but it wasn鈥檛 in the cards today,鈥� said Canadian star player Gavin Schmitt.
鈥淲e did it for everybody back home. We tried to make everyone proud.鈥�
Yet sa国际传媒 finished fifth and it was still an unexpected and wonderful run through Rio, one that should continue to play dividends for the Canadian program.
Volleyball is a niche sport on the Island, but much like rugby and lacrosse, it鈥檚 a potent one. Winters and Jamie Broder, a beach volleyball player also from Victoria and out of Claremont Secondary, both made it to the quarter-finals of the Rio Olympics. Spectrum-grad Shanice Marcelle of Victoria is a standout hitter on the Canadian national women鈥檚 team, which failed to qualify for Rio, but will try again for Tokyo 2020. Highland Secondary graduate Martin Reader from Comox, a member of the Camosun College Sports Hall of Fame, represented sa国际传媒 in beach volleyball at the 2012 London Olympics. Josh Howatson was a long-term national team player, too.
See a pattten? Volleyball is played to a very high standard on the Island.
The Island has even produced the CBC鈥檚 volleyball play-by-play TV commentator for the Rio Olympics. Former national team player and current Camosun College head coach Charles Parkinson, who guided the Chargers to the 2015 national title, is calling his fifth Olympics.
鈥淰olleyball is popular on the Island,鈥� said Parkinson. 鈥淚t鈥檚 in the Island air. There is a good feeder system on the Island and, at each level, there are experienced coaches to help develop the players,鈥� he said last year while calling the Pan Am Games in Toronto.
UVic, however, does not offer varsity volleyball after it was discontinued. That remains a gaping hole in Vikes athletics.
鈥淚t was great to see sa国际传媒 do so well in the Olympics,鈥� said UVic athletic director Clint Hamilton. 鈥淏ut we are not in a position to add any sports.鈥�
Meanwhile, Winters鈥� teammates were thinking of the Islander after the loss to Russia. At this point in his career, Winters saw only spot duty off the bench in Rio, but his experience and value was felt well beyond that in so many other ways.
鈥淔or those guys out there who are done playing for the national team, it has been quite hard to swallow for me,鈥� said rising young Canadian player Nicholas Hoag.
He could have been talking for all volleyball supporters from Victoria to Newfoundland.
