Rick Hansen Connection

The volleyball community in Ontario is fairly tiny considering the size of our province. Certain schools, clubs and areas are known for producing good volleyball players that are good enough to play post secondary athletics. The city of Mississauga is one of the areas that have become one of those places where numerous athletes are coming out of. Last years Championship team (2009-2010) had 9 out of the 16 guys on the roster including red-shirts who are products of Mississauga. Rick Hansen Secondary School is one of the powerhouses that constantly produce’s good volleyball players on a yearly basis. The big guy Andre Brown, our setter Derek Quinn, and myself all hail from Rick Hansen but graduating in different years. Both Andre and Derek played on a team with my younger brother who was the ‘superstar’ at the time. A few years before them, I played on a team full of athletes that would go on to play varsity volleyball, basketball, and baseball at the university level. The success of the program all stems from individuals in charge and that would be head of athletics Mike Russell, and Dave McAllister. Both were coaches at powerhouse McMaster University and are currently coaching our rivals at Sheridan College. Mac and Russell as we would call them, spent many hours in the gym, traveling, and coaching us so that we all could have the opportunity to play at the varsity level. They started a club team so that the athletes would have the chance to practice their skills in the high school off-season and get a chance to play against the best players around the province. Their dedication to helping and teaching us, the athletes, is the main reason for the success of the program. Thank you Mac and Russell!! Go Storm Go!