Storm awarded silver
The Smithville Christian Storm came home with a silver medal for the second straight year from the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) A boys volleyball championships.
The Storm dropped a close three-set match 24-26, 20-25, 27-29 to Hamilton District Christian High School in the gold medal game after going undefeated to reach the finals.
“It’s never a disappointment to medal at OFSAA but we felt like this year we could have potentially beat them,” Smithville coach Tim deVries said. “But at the same time, this is their (Hamilton) fourth time in a row. It’s a healthy rivalry between the two Christian schools from SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association) because we meet each other all the time.”
DeVries has been coaching for more than two decades and now has two silver, two gold and four bronze to his credit.
“I knew this team could do it, just like last year’s. We did beat Hamilton at a tournament so we felt like we could beat them,” he said. “It’s just the guys buying into the fact that, yeah, you guys can win this.”
DeVries said Smithville and Hamilton District have mutual respect for each other.
“It’s always a very good, respectable,” he said. “We’ve beaten them — last four years we haven’t — but in the past we used to beat them. So it’s always kind of been back and forth. The last four years they’ve had a bit of a juggernaut, but it’s always a very healthy, respectful rivalry. It’s not a heated rivalry by any means.”
The Storm, who won gold in 2019, have met Hamilton Christian three times in the OFSAA finals.
Overall, deVries said he was more than satisfied with the season.
“We had an awesome year. We played a lot of volleyball. We had a really good season,” he said.
The future appears bright for the Storm, who have a solid pipeline of players in the fold.
“We lose one really key player who’s been amazing for us for three years (Cole Wiersma), but I have two Grade 10s that were starters for me this year and I have two club players that are great.”
The Storm also lose Zachary Graham, Derrick Posthumus, Lincoln van Der Wier and Liam VanderWier to graduation.
Other members of the team were: Daniel Attia, Jack deVries, Bo Langendoen, Evan Vandenberg, Benjamin Wiersma and Adam Wiersma and Aiden Wiersma.
Rob Greenham, Beth Henderson and Adam Vandendool were the assistant coaches.
Dear reader. If you liked this story or one of the 6,400 other stories found on our website, please consider hitting the Support Us button on the right-hand side of our home page and making a PayPal contribution to our website. Your support would be much appreciated. If you are a business owner, please consider advertising on our site. Our rates are reasonable and we provide plenty of exposure for your business. Contact bpotrecz@outlook.com for more information.
