Chetwynd boys’ volleyball squad with Indigenous connection eyes provincials

CHETWYND, B.C. — A northeast B.C. high school volleyball team will look to punch their ticket to provincials with a strong Indigenous presence.

The Chetwynd Secondary School’s (CSS) Chargers boys’ volleyball team will play against four other class ‘A’ schools this weekend, for a chance to play in Abbotsford later this month. 

Coached by Toni Ethier with Sarah Rainey handling assistant duties, what makes the squad unique is five of the 10-man squad are members of Saulteau First Nations (SFN) of Moberly Lake.

Ethier says the boys have played together since eighth grade, noting their shared Indigenous heritage makes a “wonderful atmosphere” for the team.

“They’ve always been well supported by [Saulteau],” said Ethier. “[It has] always been a source of pride, right from day one.

“When they were in grade eight, I had them do some goal planning. One of the things that they said, and I just kind of chuckled, was that they wanted to go to provincials. So it’s almost surreal to think it’s within our grasp.”

Describing her team as “big,” members of SFN include setter Phinn Cameron, back row player Lucas Lalonde, middle Keegan Desjarlais, setter Carter Davis, and setter Grayson Gentry. 

She said the team has had some competitive games against bigger schools, often travelling to Prince George for road games, and playing in the Howler Cup hosted by Grande Prairie’s Northwest Polytechnic.

“We may not win a ton of our matches, but we’re always close,” said Ethier. “We give these big schools a run for their money every time we step onto the court.”

Ethier says the boys are often complimented by opposing coaches or parents about their skill level being a rural secondary school.

“A lot of these schools probably haven’t even heard of us. That bodes well of how they think they are going to do,” said Ethier. “We walk into the gym, though, and we kind of get rid of a little bit of that overconfidence, because the boys are big.

“The second they see us warming up, they all of a sudden realize very quickly that they’re not going to be able to just walk all over this.”

In order to get to class ‘A’ provincials, the Chargers will have to face squads from Fort Nelson Secondary School, Vanderhoof’s Nechacko Valley Secondary School and Peter Skene Odgen Secondary from 100 Mile House.

The zone playoffs will begin on Friday, November 14th at 10 a.m. at Chetwynd Secondary School.