Snow Volleyball: Canada Sends First Ever Team to Compete Internationally (Part 2)

For the first time ever, Canada has a snow volleyball team competing internationally.

Canada’s Jake MacNeil, Alex Russell, and Liam Kopp were just recently in Kahramanmaras, Turkey between February 18^th to 20^th representing Canada at the European Volleyball Federation’s (CEV) European Tour event. All three have represented the red and white internationally playing beach volleyball, and now they are looking to diversify their volleyball portfolios.

The event had 16 teams competing in a double elimination format. Canada’s Russell, Kopp, and MacNeil finished 13^th, playing squads from Switzerland and Ukraine.

The tournament marked the first time that Canada has competed in snow volleyball internationally. In 2020, Calgary’s Claire Crossfield, Edmonton’s Jaelyn Visscher, and Vancouver’s Kumi Chow were supposed to compete for Canada in Turkey, but the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s always a great honour to be able to represent Canada on the world stage, this time is just extra special because what we’re doing hasn’t been done before…it feels like I’m part of something bigger, helping give snow volleyball exposure to Canadians and maybe inspiring people to try the sport,” said Liam Kopp, who has played in FIVB beach tournaments since 2015. “Absolutely I feel a sense of pride,” he added. “I wish we could’ve played more and won some more games but still happy and thankful for the experience.”

Unique Challenges in a Unique Sport

While all three Canadian athletes are well-versed on the beach, Russell mentioned that the game on the snow brings its challenges.

“A big challenge for us was learning the systems of 3-on-3 snow volleyball. With limited to no training available for snow volleyball in Canada we relied on a couple training sessions leading up to the tournament,” Russell said.

He added that one thing they did was watch some of the more experienced teams and their systems. He also noted there was no shortage of unique strategies.

“We witnessed a variety of different strategies. For instance, we saw attackers at the pins as well as a left side and a middle attacker. We saw a German team who had one player who attacked almost every ball while the other two pass and set as 2,” mentioned Russell.

That also wasn’t the only challenge worth noting. The other biggest one would be the high altitude of Kahramanmaras.

“It was also at a much higher altitude than other venues I’ve played at so the ball performs a little differently and it’s a bit harder to breathe,” said Kopp.

Kahramanmaras sits at an altitude of 568 meters above sea level. For reference, the peak altitude in the city of Toronto is 76 meters. Those who have played sports or participated in altitude training will know how much more difficult it is to breathe during exercise.

When asked about the tournament’s atmosphere relative to a Beach Volleyball World Tour event, Kopp said that it’s similar – but he added that he felt there was a greater sense of community.

“There are less teams at each of the events and most of them are playing all the snow events. They all seemed to know each other and were pretty welcoming,” he said.

That they all seemed to know each other could be because many of them have been playing snow volleyball internationally for some time now. Russell noted how surprised they all were at amount of experience in the field.

“We played and talked to players who had already competed in 15 or more snow volleyball events dating back to 2017 or so,” he said.

With the backdrop of snowy hills at Yedikuyular Ski Center and a relatively large crowd of dedicated fans, the Canadian squad enjoyed what we all hope will be the first of many appearances for Canada in international competition. Their appearance will no doubt leave an impact here at home and work towards the growth of the sport.

A Match Made in Heaven?

It would seem that the stage has been set for Canada to take the next step towards making snow volleyball a staple in Canadian winters. To boldly take it a step further: are we poised to be a world leader in the sport of snow volleyball? With no shortage of snow in the winter and temperatures to keep it on the ground, it would be a logical place for the sport to grow, which is something we have already seen. In addition to the seemingly perfect conditions here at home, Canada’s national teams on both the indoor and beach side of things have never been stronger. Canada is quietly becoming a world-leader in volleyball, and if I for one think that snow volleyball will be a big part of that moving forward.

Kopp went on to say that he too could see the sport continue to grow in Canada.

“Winter sports are such a big part of Canada’s identity, so I think people will jump on the idea as the sport grows in popularity.”

Agreed.