Kirsten Pinkney (Photo submitted) 

By Kevin Watson

taking her talents overseas

Red Deer’s Kirsten Pinkney taking volleyball talents to France

Jan 18, 2020 | 10:22 AM

Red Deer has had its share of athletes move on to the professional ranks, but not too many have gone on to play professional volleyball.

Kirsten Pinkney will be the latest as she is set to take her talents to France.

Pinkney will suit up for the Romans Sur Isere Romans, who are currently leading the 3^rd Division with the hopes of helping them move up to the 2^nd Division by finishing 1^st or 2^nd.

The former St. Francis and Notre Dame volleyballer grew up a multi-sport athlete playing hockey, softball, basketball, track and field, rugby and handball. She started to zone in on volleyball the summer before grade 10, after she was invited as an under age to try out for Team Alberta. She also played four years of club volleyball, two years in Red Deer and two years in Calgary.

After high school, Pinkney had a few options before deciding to attend and play for Simon Fraser University.

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“They’re NCAA, so we get to travel all over the States and play American volleyball, but I still get a Canadian education,” she explained. “My coach, Gina Schmidt, played Division One and played professional all over Europe and played for the National Team. She was a big part of why I went there.”

About half way through her first year, Schmidt threw Pinkney into her first match and she finished with 16 kills in three sets. From then on she played front row for the next three and half years.

“Kirsten showed tremendous growth both on and off the court over her career,” Schmidt recalled, “continually developing her all-around skills and eventually being named team captain for her final two seasons. Her work ethic and commitment made her a role model to everyone on our team.”

As Pinkney finished her four-year career at SFU, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference announced their All-Conference honours for Women’s Volleyball in 2019. The soon to be 22-year-old was chosen as an honourable mention for the second season in a row. The outside hitter recorded 3.22 points per set in the 2019 season, as well as 0.38 blocks per set.

Despite the accolades, she hadn’t heard from any pro teams and her dream of playing pro was fading. That’s when she asked the SFU basketball coach if she could try out for the team because she still had a year of schooling remaining. Without seeing her dribble a basketball, the coach said yes to the six-footer.

Schmidt, though, had been working behind the scenes on Kirsten’s behalf, sending game film to a coach in Denmark without her knowing. That opportunity fell through, but Pinkney hired an agent who quickly landed her a job in France.

Schmidt feels Pinkney will be a good fit for the pro game.

“Playing professionally, especially overseas, is not easy. One has to deal with living far from home and dealing with a different culture where one may not speak the language. There is also a certain amount of pressure that comes with being hired to help a team win games,” she says.

“Teams are always looking for players who can score points by terminating the ball and that is something Kirsten has been doing her entire career at SFU.”

Because of her hectic volleyball schedule, there wasn’t much time for part-time employment, so Pinkney felt her job was to get a scholarship to pay for her schooling. Because of that, the Psychology major doesn’t think she’ll feel any added pressure once she starts earning a pay cheque playing the game she loves.

“That was enough motivation for me to do good on the court, but also in the classroom and give back to my parents who have put so much time and effort and money to getting me to where I am.”

Pinkney hasn’t taken French since grade 9, so communication may be a bit of a challenge early on. However, along with her pay cheque she must take an hour of French each week but has a weekly spa appointment as well.

It took a lot of hard work and money for Pinkney to get from Red Deer to France. Kirsten will continue the hard work, while for now the Romans pay the bills.