Wymark’s Henry Rempel has only been playing organized volleyball for four years, but his hard work over that time has landed him a spot on the U18 Youth National Volleyball Team.
The 6’6’’ outside hitter was recently named to the 26-player roster that will comprise two U18 Youth National Teams this summer.
Rempel has been a member of Team Saskatchewan for the past two seasons. After competing at Nationals he was identified as one of the top players in the country to fill two teams of 13 players that will represent Canada this summer.
“It’s been a goal for quite a while,” said Rempel. “I’ve played Team Sask for the last two years and last year I played on the Canada Games team for Saskatchewan. That was just the starting point where I just wanted to advance and play more I guess and this was it.”
He is one of two players from Saskatchewan who will represent Canada this summer with the U18 teams.
“I’ve just worked hard I guess. I’ve been training so much lately and just hitting the gym a lot. Without that I wouldn’t be anywhere. I just train a lot and try and put the effort in. The coaches and players around me they just help me out.”
It has been a fast track to the upper echelons of the sport in Canada for Rempel. He didn’t start playing volleyball until he was a grade eight student in Wymark.
“At first I didn’t know what I was doing, but then slowly the athleticism it just got me there slowly,” he admitted.
Rempel will take part in a training camp in Calgary for two to three weeks in July. From there the team will fly to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the USA High Performance Championship from July 24-28. The tournament will feature over 100 teams, including USA Volleyball Regional High Performance and international teams. Teams from Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, and Puerto Rico have all taken part in the past.
“I have been kind of waiting for that awhile now. To play for Canada and just represent the country that feels kind of good,” said Rempel.
Read the June 21 edition of the Southwest Booster for the complete story
