U-16 Black Ice Volleyball Team – Submitted Photo
By Morinville News Staff
Morinville – Though it is still months away, the Black Ice Volleyball Club is looking forward to their second season in front of the net. Started last fall, the club hit the courts with 20 players, enough for a U16 and a U15 team.
Coach Stacey Froment said her Black Ice U15 volleyball team had 11 players, each of whom she felt privileged to be associated with. The season began with tryouts at the end of November, and the season consisted of three premier and one provincial tournaments sanctioned by Alberta Volleyball Association.
“The girls placed 13th in Division 3 after the first premier,” Forment said. “Our next premier brought better play to bring us up to 10th. Again, following premier 3 we placed 10th. As we approached the provincials on May 4-5, our practice time brought a determination to place much higher. Our provincial experience did just that. During the round robins everyone played with full effort to place well. Our first crossover game came with a win against a past tournament rival. In the end, Black Ice placed fifth in Division 3. Unfortunately, that brought our season to an end, however, we all walked away beaming with pride.”
Coach Kirk Herrick said the U16 Black Ice Volleyball team was made up of nine dedicated players who showed huge improvement throughout the season.
“Being a new team we were ranked in Division 4 as 59th out of 62 teams in Alberta,” Herrick said. “Understandably, you have to start out somewhere near the bottom when you are a new club team. We played in the three Provincial Premiere tournaments and steadily advanced up the ranks as our play improved and the girls became more familiar with each other.”
Herrick said the girls earned a silver medal in Division 3 at the 3rd Premiere tournament in Calgary back in April. “This top three finish moved us into Division 2 for the Provincial Championships tournament in Edmonton last week-end, where we earned a 13th place finish,” he said. “As a coach, I am very proud of how the girls worked hard to improve and always played with enthusiasm and great sportsmanship. To climb from a 59th place ranking to 29th in a single season is an accomplishment that these young ladies should be proud of.”
Both Herrick and Froment were appreciative of their coaches, assistant coaches Brandyn Harasimiuk and Doug Sereda, and Danja Strobl as well as the support and assistance of the players’ parents.
“As head coach, I couldn’t have asked for a more fulfilling experience with each and every athlete, parent, [and coach]” Froment said, adding she was grateful for the financial support from the Town of Morinville to get the team started.
U-16 Black Ice Volleyball Team – Submitted Photo
