June 15, 2007 - Getting the invitation to be one of 9 Ontario gals invited to attend Volleyball Canada's "Bridging the Gap" camps in Toronto in April and Winnipeg in mid-May was certainly a surprise. It was also exciting being invited alongside three of my new University of Ottawa Gee-Gees teammates, Ariane Thibault, Joanie Beauregard-Veillette (both representing Quebec), and Kirsten Brouse who represented Ontario with me.  For someone like me who had been away for a couple of years, it was exciting (and a little unexpected) to be invited so soon to such a high-end camp.  It was a special treat to be able to see old friends, work out with such great players and to learn what I could from Team Canada Women's Head Coach Naoki Miyashita.

The first day in Winnipeg, all of the Ontario girls met up, we had our first team meeting with coaches Dustin Reid and Avery Brevett and got ready for the days ahead of us. All of the Ontario girls got along great, and were absolutely hilarious.  Seeing old friends and meeting new faces is always a great experience - I love the kinship between volleyball players.

The first four days in Winnipeg were packed, although (physically speaking) not quite as draining as we all had expected.  There were so many classroom sessions, guest coaches, and new information that it was all abit overwhelming, but in the best possible way.

One of the the highlights of the trip was watching the Mens National Team practice.  At the end of the second practice we watched, I had the chance to watch a full-on scrimmage sitting only about 2 metres away from the power alley.  It was some amazing volleyball to watch, and I gained a newfound respect for the work and dedication that is needed when you devote your life to your sport.

We also had the National Team Strength Coach Kari Schneider come in and give us a classroom session, with a video presentation of some of the National Team members doing specific exercises.  With my passion for strength training, that was certainly another highlight for me. Getting to watch how the Mens National team practiced and then hearing first-hand from their strength coach about how she helped them perform at their peak was amazing.

I think one of the greatest things about the camp, was that it gave me a chance to reconnect to the game I love, since I have been away from it for a few months since leaving the States. It was great being able to focus solely on volleyball, since the rest of the year I will have school as well.  You just go out there, and life is simple again.

Towards the end of the camp, one of the Team Canada Assistant Coaches, Mike Ling, took me aside and asked whether I would be interested in staying an extra week to try out for the Womens National Team.  Uhhh, yes please!  Being invited to try out for National Team (my 4th time!) was a huge surprise - especially in a year when the girls are attempting to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  For four and a half days I would have the insane honour of putting my shoes and kneepads on and playing next to some of my volleyball idols. These women are serious about their sport, so there was alot of passion for the game on display in the gym.  I joined 36 other girls - from across Canada (many old friends from previous tryouts) for approximately 20 hours of specialty drills with guest coaches, but mostly just pure scrimmaging over 4 days.  The National Team coaches watched intently as we were matched with different lineups to see how everyone worked together.  It was great volleyball, and getting the chance to play with the best in Canada certainly brought out everyone's A game.  It was especially exciting playing with Annie Levesque and Melissa Raymond, since they have been the pillars of the National Team for so long.

Not being selected on Friday morning was certainly a stinger, but no one has more experience with that feeling than me!  Let's just sat that it was an absolutely amazing couple of weeks that I will remember for the rest of my life.  And it certainly rekindled my passion for the sport and for National Team - "anything can be achieved through hard work".

- Tess Edwards, CareerCAP 2005