Funk committed to volleyball club

By Adelle Ellis, Times Reporter

Funk committed to the UBCO Junior Heat women’s volleyball club starting this fall, although she won’t be able to play in games until at least 2021 due to first-term sports being cancelled in a unanimous Canada West (CW) universities decision. 

Funk received an athletic scholarship for five years of eligibility to play with the Heat and study at UBCO. She has enrolled in her first year of general sciences and hopes to further specialize in physics on her way to completing her dream of becoming an astrophysicist. 

Funk grew up on the ice, playing defence throughout her hockey career, including as a member of the Rocky Mountain Raiders AAA hockey squad which won a provincial silver medal in 2018.

In 2019, Funk dropped off the ice and into the gym as she set her sights on playing volleyball. 

“I just decided that volleyball was what I wanted to pursue at the post-secondary level,” said Funk. “I fell in love with the sport after going to a couple camps over the summer (and) I went to a Dino’s practice and I really just fell in love with the game.”

Funk was no stranger to volleyball – she played the sport throughout junior high and high school, before playing one season of club volleyball with the Junior Dinos volleyball program which was ranked third in the province before the season was cut short this spring due to COVID-19. 

Funk will be joining her older brother Caleb at UBCO where he been playing as a middle on the Heat men’s volleyball program for the past three years. Living in the same town and attending the same school as her brother was part of the reason Funk chose to attend UBCO, along with the fact that the Kelowna campus “felt like home and the team just seemed like a great environment to be a part of; the coaches and players seemed super supportive and I thought it would be a great fit for me to pursue volleyball.”

Standing at 6-2, Funk also plays middle and enjoys the defensive side of the game and making blocks, which may stem from her years of playing defence in hockey. 

While exploring the option of playing volleyball at a higher level last year, Funk attended several summer camps including one in Kelowna where she was scouted by the UBCO Heat women’s volleyball coach who invited her to visit the campus and attend some practices.

Funk received notice on June 8 that CW cancelled the first-term team competitions for 2020-21; that includes cancelling all first-term volleyball conference play prior to Jan. 1, 2021. Due to the cancellation, Funk will only be able to practice the sport instead of playing it and, as such, will not be charged a year of eligibility this season. 

“Since I’m pretty new to volleyball, I guess for me my first year is a lot about development anyway and just getting a deeper understanding for the game, (and) developing and improving my game,” said Funk. 

“It’s been hard not being able to play all the time, but I guess everybody is in the same boat as me,” added Funk, who looks forward to playing when and what she can this upcoming year and hoping for a return of volleyball in 2021 for the second term, of which a decision will be made by CW this October. 

“It’s always been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to get to play a sport in university and I’m just really thankful for the opportunity to keep doing what I love at a high level.”