Rising Star Sharone Vernon-Evans Looks to Lead Canada in His Olympic Debut

With one of the highest spike touches in the world and a rocket serve and attack, the world is sure to take notice when Canada’s Sharone Vernon-Evans makes his Olympic debut this week in Tokyo. At only 22 years old, the Scarborough native is by far the youngest member on an experienced Canadian volleyball team. Canada comes into the games ranked 10^th in the FIVB’s Senior World Rankings after a strong showing at the 2021 Volleyball Nations League, where they finished in 8^th place. In a pool including Japan (ranked 11^th), Poland (2^nd), Italy (9^th), Iran (12^th), and Venezuela (33^rd), it will need to be a team effort led by veteran coach Glenn Hoag. The Canadians benefit from seven players who were a part of the 2016 Olympic squad, but it is the youngest teammate, Vernon-Evans, who could be the x-factor that catapults the team out of pool play and into the next round.

Sharone Vernon-Evans took a less conventional route to get to the level he’s at now. After graduating high school, he decided to forgo post-secondary school and instead train full-time with Volleyball Canada in Gatineau, Quebec. At the time, the young outside attacker was just 18 years old. He recalls having just watched the 2016 edition of Team Canada compete at the Rio Olympics.

“It was weird because I had just watched them at the Olympics, so you’re a big fan and you’re cheering them on, then my reality changed to ‘okay, now you’re my teammate’…so that was really hard at first, fanboying, just seeing them in real time and then you have to realize that I’m here to do a job and perform, and be a teammate.”

Though Vernon-Evans was a bit taken aback at first, his teammates understood the importance of supporting new players, especially rookies. Team setter, TJ Sanders, remembers making an effort to welcome Sharone during his first season.

“When you first join the National Team as a young player it is undoubtably intimidating. It’s also obvious that teams who support each other can get the best out of one another on the court. Those two factors meant that when Sho joined the team, especially at such a young age, us older guys knew it would be important to integrate him into the team as quickly as possible.” TJ Sanders, setter.

Vernon-Evans also recalls players like middle blocker Graham Vigrass reassuring him, telling him that he was supposed to be there, and that he was never just a project. “I started playing more games and eventually starting, which was quite cool, but after a while I start to understand that I was able to play at that level,” Vernon-Evans explains.

It was a big leap to make – jumping from high school volleyball to training with Olympians. The next player closest in age was still five years older than Vernon-Evans.

“It’s a different scene, you know? We all grew up from 14U to 15U to 16U, you’re all in that same age group, it’s not like you’re in 14U playing up in 18U…you have that time to grow into your role, and here it’s like ‘okay, I need you to do this now, on the spot.’”

In his first year of joining Team Canada, Vernon-Evans remembers doing a drill that pit the left sides against the opposites, and he found himself blocking Team Captain, Gord Perrin. “For the first four hits, he did not hit the ball, he just jousted and made me fall on my ass. Like four straight times.”

The 6 foot 9 attacker doesn’t get knocked down much anymore. Heading into Tokyo, he is coming off a strong showing at the 2021 Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, Italy, where he led the Canadian men in total points scored with 129 – ironically one more point than his left side counterpart, Gord Perrin.

Getting to wear the maple leaf and represent Canada at the international level has been a dream come true for the Ontario kid who got his start with the Mississauga Pakmen Club.

“For me, it’s a dream, literally. Anyone who even plays sport or touches any type of ball dreams that ‘one day I’ll be an Olympian’, so this to me, is obviously the greatest honour you can have as a sportsman…this is bigger than any competition there is.”

Vernon-Evans compared the Olympic Games to the World Championships, and pointed out the stark difference.

“World Championships, the volleyball fans, maybe some other people are going to watch it, but not really that many. But at the Olympics, you have any sport watching this, because now its about your nation, like now it’s ‘I just want Canada to succeed no matter what, and for me to know I have the chance to represent my family, who helped me get here, and then all my friends, Pakmen family…I still don’t believe it now. But it’s one of those things, it doesn’t sink in, and then you’re going to get there and go ‘Wow, this is crazy.’”

While in Tokyo, Vernon-Evans plans on enjoying the whole experience and really appreciating it, but at the same time he’s committed to staying focused and not letting the gravity of the moment get to him. When asked about expectations for himself and his team at the Olympics, he says, “I don’t go to any competition not wanting to win. We are going to go out there, do the best we can, and hopefully bring a medal home.”

The number one focus for Team Canada right now is making it out of Pool A.

“After you make it out of the pool, it’s one game. And then you’re in the dance. If we get out, and we win that quarters match, we are in the medal rounds.”

It will be a very different Olympics than ever before, a much quieter one, with no fans in the stands to cheer on the players. Although Vernon-Evans wishes his family could be there to witness his Olympic debut first-hand, he admits their absence could ultimately help with his overall focus. The 22 year old is also very aware of how much it will mean for so many kids back home in Canada to see him perform on the world stage.

“I always want to help grow the sport…having that opportunity at the Olympics, you’re in a lot more households than ever before. And for me, I wanted to show that there’s another sport to play other than basketball, being a young black kid, so for me it was always big to promote the sport in general. And for us, being in the Olympics, it gives us a lot more exposure to younger kids to let them know ‘yea, you can play volleyball too.’ I wouldn’t have imagined I would have been here, and I want kids to know and believe they can do more than what people project for them.”

Sharone Vernon-Evans makes his Olympic volleyball debut Friday, July 23 at 8PM EST, when he and Team Canada take on Italy.