Thank you, Dinos Men's Volleyball

It seems surreal how fast my time at the University of Calgary flew by. It does not feel like five years have passed since I was in my first-year orientation. I have, and always will love the sport of volleyball, but as I look back at my time here, the greatest memories did not happen on the court, they happened in the locker room, on the bus rides, in the hotel rooms or at the post-game celebrations. These are the moments that I look back on and will always cherish. But let us start from the beginning.

My athletic journey began in quite a unique way. I did not have many offers out of high school in 2016 from universities that offered a Bachelor of Commerce program, so I decided to put my volleyball aspirations aside and pursue the education I desired. As a freshman at UCalgary, I was just a regular student, I met a lot of people and partied as any freshman would, but I always felt like there was something in my life that was missing. Fast forward to August 2017. I am sitting by a fire with an old teammate and Dinos alumni as we are reminiscing about the club volleyball days and he mentions to me that two liberos were leaving the Dinos men’s volleyball team. This meant that there was a vacant position on the roster. That same night I emailed the head coach, Rod Durrant, and expressed my interest in trying out. We had met a few times previously and he knew of me from my club days and I had some old teammates that we are currently playing on his team.

He asked if I wanted to help coach Dinos camps for the next 2 weeks and train with the team to see if I was a good fit. Fortunately, I knew most of the guys on the team and they welcomed me as an equal from the moment I walked into the gym on the first day of camps.

The next two weeks, I gelled with the team, trained daily, and proved that I was worthy of the position. Rod offered me a spot on the team as a libero and the opportunity to experience my time at the university the way I had always dreamed. It was all becoming a reality.

As a walk-on, who had not trained in over a year, I had a lot of catching up to do. I have always been one of the shortest players on my past teams but moving into U SPORTS, this became a lot more apparent. Pretty instantly, I was given the nickname “Runt”, which I have embraced ever since. I did not have any expectations to travel or dress for games my first year but to my surprise, I travelled with the team during the first weekend of the season to UBC. This is when my mentorship began. I was taken under the wing of two fifth-year players, Matthew Hood and Calvin Siebert. They chose me as their roommate that very first trip and taught me all the tips and tricks to travelling with the team. They were like big brothers to me (including all the pranks and badgering) and we ended up staying roommates the remainder of the year. I owe a lot to those two. From that first road trip, I took on the “little brother” or “LB” role on the team. I believed at the time that this was a rookie role that I would just have to ride it out for my first year. Little did I know that for the next four years, I would have that role and be tickled into the corner of every elevator by my teammates or woken up in the mornings on the road by a team doggy pile on top of me.

There are so many memories I could choose from the past five years; it would be impossible to choose just one to write about. Being part of the team has allowed me to travel to many Western Canadian cities, as well as California, where we got to train with the Stanford University men's volleyball team and just hang out on the beach in-between training sessions in San Diego. Although we travelled to some more undesirable places (#Winnipeg), the team would always make the most of it. In my third year, we were in Brandon, Manitoba for the first round of playoffs and ended up losing. Little did I know this would be my last game as a Dino. The team all went back to the hotel, gathered in one room, and just hung out and had fun trying to forget about the tough loss. As much as losing always sucks, it was nice to know that everyone was going through the same thing and could get over it together.

I wish I knew that last year was going to be my final season. I would have cherished every practice, game, and team get-together that much more. COVID-19 has put a dagger in every athlete’s career, and it breaks my heart that I did not have a “last dance” season. This past year has been a rollercoaster with practices being cancelled on and off what seemed like every two weeks. Not having the interactions with my teammates every day like I used to have been hard, but it makes me value the moments I had as a Dino that much more.
 

As any Dino knows, when you join the team, you are joining a family. As an athlete, you do spend more time with your team than your actual family and friends.

No matter your differences, your highs, or your lows, you all have one goal in common; to win, to make it to the playoffs and ultimately a national championship. That goal is the glue that keeps teams together. The friendships I have made while being part of the volleyball community will last a lifetime and I cannot thank the program enough for allowing me to be a Dino. Thank you to my teammates, my coaches, my family, friends, and the whole Dinos community for making the last five year’s at UCalgary better than I could have ever imagined.

- Kyle Hall

Dinos Men's Volleyball Graduating Athletes: Kyle Hall, Hamish Hazelden, Liam Laidlaw