Abbotsford’s Cole Brandsma has received a prestigious invite to Volleyball Canada’s U21 men’s virtual training group.
The 2019 Abbotsford Christian Secondary grad will join 26 other players from all across the country at the virtual camp, which aims to prepare the program to further connect, educate, and continue the development of the selected athletes as Canada looks towards World Championship qualification in 2021.
The athletes will be engaged through various sessions in July and August including support from Team Canada staff on technical, tactical, physical, and mental skill development.
Brandsma finished up his first year with the UBC Thunderbirds men’s volleyball team earlier this year, with UBC finishing third in the Canada West with a record of 17-5. The Thunderbirds eventually fell in the Canada West semifinal to Alberta back in March.
He is a gold medal winner at both the U16 provincial club level and at the 2016 BC Summer Games with the Fraser Valley team. Brandsma also has a U18 club provincial silver medal and a national bronze.
He is also a three-time provincial high school all-star, a three-time ACS male athlete of the year, and was named to the Abbotsford Sports Wall of Fame. He also helped lead ACS to a provincial silver medal in volleyball.
“While every coach and athlete would love to be in the gym, we recognize the significant challenge we all are facing during the pandemic. It is critical that our coaches and athletes continue to develop athletes through high performance pathways toward the men’s and women’s indoor national teams,” stated Dawna Sales, Director of Athlete and Coach Pathways for Volleyball Canada. “To work with world-leading professional staff that traditionally wouldn’t be available in July to our youth and junior athletes is just one of the opportunities to extend our programs.”
