First Things First

Hi and welcome to my blog!  It's a little late into the season, but I plan on keeping a record of mine and Liz's travels as we compete on the international beach volleyball circuit.  Feel free to comment, ask me questions, or give feedback as I'm new to this whole world of blogging.


Where to begin?  I will try to give a quick recap of the season thus far:


Liz and I teamed up in the fall last year, and started training together during the winter in Toronto at the National Team Training centre.  I was finishing the last year of my undergrad, and competing indoor for the University of Toronto, to say the least including beach training in the mix was a fine balancing act.  When I finished school in the spring, I was finally able to join Liz for full-time training.  

Team Canada in Chiapas:
Sam, Me & Liz M, Jamie & Liz C, Cam

Our season kicked off in May when we travelled to Chiapas, Mexico for a NORCECA )North America, Central America, and Caribbean) Championships.  We finished 3rd in the tournament, loosing our semi-final game to an experienced Cuban team (one of whom was a 2008 Olympian), and then defeating our compatriots Broder/ Cordonier in a tight Bronze medal match.
From there Liz and I travelled to the home of beach volleyball, California, to train with different teams and coaches for 3 weeks.  What a fantastic experience!!  I really hope we have an opportunity to go back. 


Afterwards we returned to Toronto to play in a few local OVA (Ontario Volleyball Association) tournaments, and check back in with the national training centre.  After a month at home we flew to Puerto Rico where we were able to train with the top ranked Puerto Rican women's team of Acevedo/ Santiago at their training centre in San Juan.  

On top of the podium in Boqueron, Puerto Rico

After a couple days in San Juan, we travelled to the opposite end of the island to Boqueron for the next stop on the NORCECA circuit.  After 4 days of intense heat and bugs, Liz and I came out Champions!  In our semi-final game we defeated USA 1 (18-21, 21-16, 15-6).  In the final game we faced the favoured host team of Acevedo/ Santiago, winning (26-24, 21-14).  Here's a link to the story: 
http://www.norceca.org/

We returned home to Toronto post win for a few days to pack and prepare for our 6 weeks stint in Europe.  Our first leg of the trip was Marseille, France for our first FIVB World Tour stop of the season (only my second to date).  There is a recap, albeit brief, of our season so far.  More to come on Marseille and our plans for the following weeks!