Jefferson Hagen / MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Tyler Jodoin grew up in a town so small that its population decreased by four per cent after he moved away to attend MacEwan University.
No kidding he was one of 26 residents of tiny St. Lina, in the county of St. Paul, Alta., 202 kilometres northeast of Edmonton.
The first-year MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball player is every bit the underdog that geography suggests. He literally came out of nowhere.
No one had him on their volleyball recruiting radar and that's probably where he would have stayed if Griffins head coach Brad Poplawski hadn't decided to mine a little deeper in his search for Team Alberta players a couple years back.
"We kept seeing this kid who was playing for a club team called the Mud Dogs," he related of a club tournament he was at in Edmonton. "He'd just jump over everyone and we were like 'wow, we've got to give this kid a chance.' We invited him to Team Alberta tryouts and he made it."
Jodoin couldn't believe it.
"I was just surprised, playing on a B side team," he said. "We didn't do anything. We didn't go anywhere. I was very lucky to get that shot."
Initially, he was just an alternate on that U17 squad, but due to an injury, he travelled with the team to the National Team Challenge Cup. Then opportunity knocked as the team inserted him into the lineup for a boost. He never came out of a starter's spot and led the U17 squad to a bronze medal in a U18 tournament.
"I went off. I started hitting it good and I was having a great game," said Jodoin. "I think I ended up starting after that. I went from a redshirt, this no-name kid to starting on the Alberta team."
After joining Poplawski's Griffins last fall, Jodoin was once again that longshot, no-name kid, who seemed destined to ride the bench in obscurity during his first season.
"I had no idea who anybody was," he said. "I'm not going to lie, I didn't know anything about U SPORTS. Coming here, I didn't know many of the guys. I was shy. I kept to myself.
"Whenever I made errors, I kind of looked around to see who was watching," he continued. "I just kept my head down, didn't say anything. I was trash. For a long time, I was trash. But getting used to the guys, getting to know everyone and having the confidence now … I'm definitely getting better."
He just might be MacEwan's most improved player this season and that's saying something on a team full of rookies who are continuing to adapt to the huge learning curve.
And on Saturday, Jodoin, who had ridden the pine all season, got a surprise call from Poplawski during a match against Mount Royal University last Saturday.
"It was a rough game for the team and Pops looks down the bench and says 'Ty.' He's kidding, right? So, I go grab the paddle and start warming up," he related. "I'm thinking I'm not going to go in. It's just in case. Then I heard, 'Ty you're in.'
"I ran onto the court and my heart was just pumping out of my chest. I'm freaking out. But I kind of told myself you can't play nervous because if you play nervous you're going to mess up more. I just calmed myself down and stayed in there for two points."
He helped the Griffins win a point and even served before being subbed out. His official stat line reads: 1 set with 14 zeros and one dash in the other columns. It's a start.
"Obviously we were struggling a little bit, but we weren't throwing him a bone out there," said Poplawski. "He's been pushing hard and when we train, he's a guy that's become a go-to guy.
"I think it's good that he got that experience because I see a really bright future for him with our program."
Jodoin is a natural athlete, having played handball at the Team Alberta level in his youth as well as almost every other school sport you can think of (his volleyball coach required all of his team members to run on the school's cross-country team because, like other sports, they lacked numbers).
That he's made it to the U SPORTS level from his tiny town is incredible.
"His dad's a coach, so he was getting good coaching, but it is tough. Volleyball's a sport you need other people to play with, so it can be tough to just even train at a high enough level or practice," said Poplawski. "But he's so athletic. You can see with his jump, his arm swing.
"Since coming to us, I think he probably had that moment again – this is a huge jump – but we've just seen over a semester now how much more comfortable he's become. His improvement level has just been astounding."
Jodoin and the Griffins (1-15) will be looking for their first home victory of the season when they welcome the only team below them in the Canada West men's volleyball standings, Regina (1-17) on Friday (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday (6:30 p.m., both games Atkinson Gym). Friday's game is MacEwan's Bell Let's Talk game in support of mental health awareness.
Poplawski will be looking for a response from his team following one of their worst outings of the season last Saturday in a 3-0 loss at home to MRU.
"Whether we're 20-0 or 0-20, our record can't dictate how hard we work and how hard we prepare," he said. "That's what I love about sports – it is a new week and we get a chance to prove ourselves again. I want them to learn from it, but I don't want them to carry that baggage from last week. It's done."
