Beach volleyball was one of the top attractions during the opening half of the Western Canada Summer Games as local fans cheered on Swift Current’s Parker Bloom at Riverside Park.
Bloom and Jeremy Martens (Saskatoon) formed Saskatchewan White in men’s Beach Volleyball as they placed sixth overall.
Bloom and Martens placed second in their initial pool with a 1-1 record on Saturday. They defeated Yukon White (21-9, 21-14) and lost to Alberta Blue (10-21, 14-21) on opening day.
Bloom and Martens finished with one win and one loss on Sunday as well. Saskatchewan White lost their repool opener to Manitoba Gold 18-21 and 15-21 to open the day. They faced Saskatchewan Green in the second match and won 21-17 and 21-17 to place second in their group.
Monday, they rematched with Manitoba Gold in the quarter-final and lost in straight sets (18-21, 20-22) to drop to the consolation side.
They advanced to the consolation final with a default win over Yukon on Monday afternoon.
Tuesday, Saskatchewan White faced Saskatchewan Green and dropped the rematch 22-24 and 25-27 to place sixth overall.
“It wasn’t bad. The result wasn’t what we wanted, but I felt we played pretty good for our first time in a competition this big,” said Bloom. “It was pretty cool playing in a setting like this. This is the first time I’ve played with refs and linesmen, so it was pretty cool.”
Bloom was certainly under the microscope from media and fans as one of only two local athletes in action during the first half of the Games.
“It was nice knowing that people actually cared about what I was doing. But when I was on the court it just was all volleyball, nothing really distracted me.”
Bloom will suit up for the Briercrest Clippers in Caronport this fall.
“I think we’ll be good. We will be a pretty good team this year, so it will be fun,” said Bloom.
