TORONTO 鈥� The winds of fate can blow capriciously at a multi-sport Games. With matches having to be played within a constricted and hectic time frame, it often comes down to tiebreakers.
Victoria athletes Shanice Marcelle and Emma Fletcher both finished 1-2 in pool play with the Canadian women鈥檚 volleyball and soccer teams, respectively, at the 2015 Pan American Games.
Fletcher moved on to a soccer semifinal date tonight against Colombia, while Marcelle鈥檚 medal hopes have been dashed with Cuba advancing to the volleyball quarter-finals thanks to a .957 point ratio to sa国际传媒鈥檚 .873.
Marcelle still took many positives out of the experience.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 remember the last time I鈥檝e played in front of crowds like this at home . . . that has been special and something we are likely never to experience again,鈥� said the Spectrum Community School graduate, who moves so seamlessly around the court, and has been a Canadian starter and standout.
sa国际传媒 lost 3-1 to Argentina this week in a decisive women鈥檚 volleyball game. That session followed a familiar pattern across all sports here with the stands packed for games featuring Canadian games but with other games far less so. For instance, 4,500 fans watched Marcelle and sa国际传媒 in their final pool game against the Argentines but the crowd dropped to about 800 for the second end of the doubleheader featuring Cuba and the Dominican Republic. The Mexico-Puerto Rico men鈥檚 volleyball game Tuesday afternoon had about 600 in the stands. When Fred Winters of Victoria stepped on the same court Tuesday night to captain the Canadian men鈥檚 team against the U.S., the place was again jammed with 4,500 people.
A narrative since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics is that Canadians have become more unabashed in cheering on their national successes. But have they also become more insular hosts because of it? Whether that鈥檚 true or not, the Canadian athletes in these Games are happy to ride the home-nation tide.
鈥淭here is always going to be a bigger home crowd. Home-court advantage has to mean something. You ask any athlete if they like playing in front of a partisan crowd, and they will say there鈥檚 nothing like it. In terms of fans, everyone loves to watch their athletes play at home,鈥� said Charles Parkinson of Victoria, who is doing the Pan Am Games volleyball broadcast play-by-play for CBC and ESPN.
鈥淎nd when those home athletes have a legitimate shot at winning, it becomes real cheering and not just polite cheering. Canadians actually believe they can win. Culturally that鈥檚 a big shift,鈥� added Parkinson, the Camosun College men鈥檚 head coach, who guided the Chargers to their first national title this year.
鈥淚t used to be thanks for coming out. Now we expect to win. Look at our men鈥檚 baseball and women鈥檚 basketball teams at these Games, which beat the U.S. in the gold-medal games. In the past, Canadian knees would have been knocking to play the U.S. in baseball or basketball. 鈥�
Abigail Raye joins Oak Bay High grad and Stanford Cardinal player Maddie Secco and University of Victoria Vikes products Kaitlyn Williams, Thea Culley and Danielle Hennig in preparing for tonight鈥檚 women鈥檚 field-hockey semifinal matchup against the U.S., and the Canadian players will be leaning on the crowd for a boost.
鈥淚t鈥檚 incredible. There鈥檚 no better feeling. It really helps pick us up and gives us lots of advantages, so we鈥檝e been loving it,鈥� Raye told reporters.
It all comes down to this for sa国际传媒, which needs to win gold in women鈥檚 field hockey in order to qualify for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics.
Marcelle, meanwhile, is realistic about sa国际传媒鈥檚 chances for Rio in women鈥檚 volleyball after being relegated to the consolation round here at Toronto 2015, which is not an official qualifier for her sport.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a difficult zone [Americas] and have to keep improving . . . we鈥檒l need a big push in order to qualify for Rio,鈥� said the European pro and former CIS female athlete of the year across all sports, who began playing volleyball in the Victoria Titans organization.
Captain and Claremont grad Winters has sa国际传媒 off to a 3-0 start in men鈥檚 volleyball following a rousing victory Tuesday night over the arch-rival U.S.
