Crossley wins one for Forest
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No one appreciated winning the boys volleyball consolation championship at OFSAA more than Forest Turpel.
The 17-year-old, Grade 12 student captained the E.L. Crossley Cyclone to the title at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations championships in Stratford last week to wrap up his high school career.
“If you look back in the video, you’ll see me crying,” he said. “It’s one of those moments that you’ll never forget knowing that everybody did something for you and all came together.
“I’ve been playing since I was 12 and it was my last game of my career. Just being with such a good group of guys. We were like a second family for the last four years.”
The consolation title was a fulfilling way to end the tournament for Crossley after a tough start that saw them drop three straight in pool play to Monsignor Percy, Adam Scott and Franco Cite.
At that point coaches Jessica Kropac and Michelle Gibson brought the team together and gave them a pep talk.
“I pulled a couple of the boys — a lot of our other players are basketball players or track athletes — Forest just has volleyball, that’s it,” Kropac said. “I told them it means a lot to him and could we get it together for him and I really think that’s what turned it around.
“They really wanted to give him the win, which was amazing.”
Gibson agreed that talk was the turning point.
“It was really neat to see them become selfless and want this for him,” she said.
The Cyclone were a team on a mission from that point on defeating Westgate and then St. Michael (3-1) in the quarter-finals and North Albion (3-1) in the semifinals which set up an epic match with Lasalle in the final which saw the Cyclone prevail 25-20, 25-21, 18-25, 17-25, 15-11.
“We were hugging afterward and we said in our coaching career it was one of our most meaningful. Just to see the way the boys handled themselves and their sportsmanship throughout the entire event,” Kropac said. “As a team, you could see them really want to support Forest and want to do it for him.”
Turpel certainly appreciated the sentiment and effort put forth by his teammates.
“It really made me emotional in the change room. Everybody worked their asses off that last game. They left nothing on the court. They left everything on the court.
“It was the second-best thing other than gold. Only three teams win their last game so it meant a lot.”
Turpel loves the team aspect of volleyball.
“Other sports you don’t really need to be all that connected to play or win, but volleyball you have to be more of a family and communicate with each other and get along really well,” he said. “Everybody on the team is a team player. Nobody wants to take a point for themselves. Guys sacrifice a highlight they might have for another person.
“We’re a team who wants to keep giving for each other.”
Kropac and Gibson don’t even want to think about moving forward without Turpel, who is considering playing volleyball at either Niagara College, Mohawk or Conestoga.
“He’s just awesome. He’s amazing,” Kropac said. “He performs at such a high level but it totally selfless about it. He wants nothing more than to make everyone else around him better, and will gladly give up the game point even if it can make another player look great, which is what he did in the semifinals. He gave another player the game point.”
Gibson added: “He has the ability to stay positive, stay focused and keep the team up. He leads by example and it’s never about him. It’s about the team as a whole.
“We had several parents at OFSSA and other coaches and OFSAA president come over and comment about him how outstanding of a team player and captain he was on the floor.”
Turpel was quick to reply when asked how much Kropac and Gibson have meant to him in his time at Crossley.
“Infinity. You can’t get anything better,” he said, with a smile.
Other members of the Cyclone are: Billy Belchior, Aiden Belding, Ryan Belovari, Riley Bleich, Jake Butler, Owen Dobbie, Jack Hilts, Sam Nawrocki, Hye-Jun Song, Hayden Stewart and Carter Teal.
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