Crusader recruited to Vancouver Island University

Sports

Posted By shawn Slaght

Posted 1 month ago

By Shawn Slaght

Canmore Leader

Vancouver Island University Mariners announced recently that they have recruited former Canmore Collegiate High School Crusader Braden O'Toole for their men's volleyball team.

Standing 6-foot-5, O'Toole has proven to be a force as a left-handed hitter on the right side of the court.

"Right now we are lacking someone on the right side," Barcelos said. "We saw him at the national championships and saw how athletic he was."

Barcelos said they had conversations with O'Toole prior to the national championship, but never had a chance to see him play before that.

O'Toole originally started out as a basketball player at CCHS before switching over to volleyball a few years ago.

"Speaking to his coaches they said he is such a coachable guy," Barcelos said. "He made the switch from basketball to volleyball in just the last couple years and that is huge. That is what we need right now because we are in the transition of losing some older players and we are starting to bring up a younger team."

This new opportunity is something that O'Toole is really looking forward to.

"I'm pretty excited," he said. "I'm not a big fan of the winters around here and I think they should have a really strong team."

Obviously, going from high school volleyball to university is going to be a big jump. Barcelo feels that it might take O'Toole a while to get used to it, but he will make a smooth transition.

"We've got some players that will help him out," he said. "It will be a difficult transition for him for the first few months because the training is a lot more intense. We practice four days a week and on weekends we are in exhibition travel. In high school you don't practice that much."

He added, though, that with O'Toole's athleticism he will be able to adjust to the rigorous schedule quite easily.

As well as playing with the Crusaders, he spent the past season with the Calgary Canuck Stuffs U18 club team, where they finished the season in the top-10 at the U-18 National Championships.

shawn@canmoreleader.com

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