(RDP Athletics)

By Alessia Proietti

March 6-9

Red Deer Polytechnic hosts CCAA Women’s Volleyball National Championship for first time in 37 years

Mar 4, 2024 | 3:14 PM

This week, Red Deer will host the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Women’s Volleyball National Championship for the first time in 37 years.

From March 6-9, Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) will hold the competition at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre, with matches taking place from 1 – 8 p.m. daily.

The RDP Queens volleyball team went 13-6 this season and ranked fourth at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) in February.

Head Coach Walton Talbot believes the competition will have a huge impact on central Alberta and girls’ volleyball in the region.

Discovering the news of the competition’s location over one year ago, Talbot says the team’s mindset changed instantly, with a focus on developing themselves and keeping the championship in the back of their minds at every match.

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He says the Queens are a physical team, with strengths in the girls’ heights, all above 5 feet 10 inches, and athleticism that make them powerful players.

“We play the game at the net. The tracking and the blocking piece is really where our strength lies. Getting the ball into those positions can capitalize on that strength piece and we’re going to need an all-out effort from everybody. We don’t just have a one-player team. It is the six on the floor that are going to contribute to the points earned and matches won,” he said.

Talbot said RDP Kings and Queens have consistently been strong contenders in conference and national championships over the years due to the city’s sports culture.

“A lot of that comes from our community volleyball, whether it’s junior high, high school, and club systems, providing feeder athletes to move to RDP who already know what Kings and Queens volleyball should look like. I think that really is the foundational piece for that culture of our programs and that history knowing that [it] is in our blood to be a contender really helps drive our programs to that excellence,” he said.

The national championships will consist of eight teams: the gold medal winners from each of the six conferences in Canada as well as one wild card and the host team, the RDP Queens. The other teams include the Lakeland Rustlers (Lloydminster, AB), VIU Mariners (Nanaimo, BC), Nordiques de Lionel-Groulx (Sainte-Thérèse, QC), Humber Hawks (Toronto, ON), Capilano Blues (North Vancouver, BC), CMU Blazers (Winnipeg, AB), and the UKC Blue Devils (Halifax, NS).

Talbot says the Queens don’t have lots of information on the competitors as teams typically don’t play outside their conference unless they have previously played at the national level. While they will be able to study from videos of previous matches, he says most of their work will have to focus on their own side while remembering to enjoy the moment.

“We just have to keep reminding them [to] look up, look around, and just see where you are and get that energy from the crowd because those are those memories that will stick with you lots of times. That emotional piece that’s occurring, hopefully seeing that Gary Harris full of fans, will be a once-in-a-lifetime thing that you can definitely remember for the rest of your life and hopefully share it with family members in the future,” he said.

According to the CCAA, the last time RDP hosted the national championship was in 1987. With the 1,748-square foot Canada Games Centre located on campus, a legacy from the 2019 Canada Winter Games held in Red Deer, the institution was also able to host the CCAA Men’s National Volleyball Championship that same year.

Talbot said the men’s championship was a success, with a 1,200-seat sold-out gymnasium.

“[This] isn’t what you might remember from your Phys. Ed. volleyball. This is going to be explosive level, jumping high, hitting the ball hard; [it] makes for an exciting sport to watch and easy to learn what’s going on and to embrace the energy that’s created,” he said.

As a result, he encourages attendees to purchase their tickets early online at the RDP events or RDP Athletics website.

The RDP Queens will play their first match against the Humber Hawks on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

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