Strathmore Volleyball Club U14 Boys take third at recent tournament

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

Strathmore Volleyball Club’s U14 boys finished third at their most recent Alberta Premier Tournament, placing them as the third ranked team in Alberta for their division.

The team’s coach, Matt Byma, said it’s an all-time high for the team, which has steadily been increasing its rank over the course of their season.

“It was really exciting, we played really well and for a smaller club like Strathmore … to finish third in the province at one of these is a pretty big deal,” said Byma. “The Alberta Premier Tournaments … there’s three major tournaments and then provincials. They’re these giant tournaments that have between 24 and 32 teams (playing) in them spanning from all across Alberta.”

According to Byma, typically the top-placing teams are major club teams out of Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, or Lethbridge.

During the first Alberta Premier Tournament, the boys placed first, despite the absence of some of their teammates. Their placement allowed them to advance up a division, which, by itself was a record performance.

At their second Alberta Premier Tournament, Strathmore lost after a very close game in the semi-finals to the Northern Alberta Volleyball Club, knocking them down to the lower bracket for that tournament to compete for third place.

Byma said his team “absolutely destroyed” the Sherwood Park team in straight sets to take third place.

“This happens to be a really athletic, really talented group of kids … they’re a really smart team. We’re not the crazy tallest, biggest team but we have a very well-rounded, smart group of kids,” said Byma. “They’re just starting to come into their own and they are starting to realize how good they are and that they could be a scary opponent for those bigger clubs.”

The third and final Alberta Premier Tournament will take place on April 2-3, prior to the Provincial Tournament on