Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Not seeking fanfare, just wanting to help, Tyler Jodoin and his friends quietly raised $5,600 for the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation through a beach volleyball tournament in August at his grandfather's cabin.
It's just another element of his character, said MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball head coach Brad Poplawski.
"He's a pretty special young man, for sure," said Poplawski. "He's a really good people person, really cares about everyone. Anyone who has met him is better off for having been involved in his life.
"It does really speak to his character that he'd put time in for that. With the Stollery, it's such a worthwhile and important cause. For him to organize that is pretty awesome.
"It was something he valued and he just put it on. I thought that was really cool how he went about it for all the right reasons."
Jodoin, who will lead the Griffins into their home-opening weekend against cross-town rival Alberta this weekend (Friday, 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, 3:30 p.m., both David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV presented by Co-op), noted supporting the Stollery is a no-brainer.
"We've had a bunch of family members go to the Stollery for some pretty important stuff," said the St. Lina, Alta. native. "My cousin, who helped me put the tournament on was there when he was younger for allergies. We had another young cousin who spent his first three or four weeks there when he was born.
"It's pretty close to our family, so it's pretty important."
For the record, Jodoin and his team won the 14-team tourney – ("It wasn't rigged at all," he quipped) – played on the second weekend of August on twin courts at the cabin two hours northeast of Edmonton.
"My buddy set up a court in his yard so we'd been going there the last four years," he explained. "But we built a court at my cabin – ripped the dirt out with some tractors, hauled some sand in. So, we built two courts side by side and had it at the cabin.
"We just invited friends and we got each team to raise local funds. We set a goal of $100 a team and some teams came with $600. It was nice to see."
A left side on the Griffins, Jodoin figures to have an increased role as one of eight returning players on the team.
"I think just over the years, he's just worked so hard on and off the court, physically working out and getting ready," said Poplawski. "He's really pushing this year. He's going to have a big role on our team this year. Whether it's this weekend, I don't know, but as they year goes on, he's definitely going to factor in with our team on court."
Poplawski still remembers the moment he first saw Jodoin play – a player so far off the radar nobody knew who he was.
"It's kind of funny we're doing this story when we're playing U of A because their coach Brock (Davidiuk) and I were coaching Team Alberta 17U in 2016 and that's when we first saw Ty. We were doing some scouting for Team Alberta and we kept noticing this young kid on, I think they were called the Mud Dogs – a smaller club. We just noticed this kid jumping out of the gym and it's like 'who is this guy?' He ended up playing Team Alberta for us that summer."
Jodoin will be part of the puzzle for the Griffins this season, a squad which will rely on its depth rather than a go-to attacker like Max Vriend – who led Canada West in kills in 2019-20 – was for them the last time they played.
"I find that we're not just relying on some individual big hitters," said Jodoin. "We have some depth. If one guy's not working, we have some depth on the bench."
That includes key returners such as Jefferson Morrow, Olamide Ajayi, Keenan Koss and Mark Alexander, along with incoming transfers from the ACAC ranks – Alexei Wallsser (who red-shirted with the Griffins in 2019-20 after starring for Lakeland College), Alexander Lyndon (SAIT) and Ethan Nashim (Grande Prairie) – and a number of promising rookies.
"It's a different training environment," said Poplawski. "We're able to do more stuff, so it's positive that way.
"It's tough to call it depth when you're facing the No. 1 team in Canada West this weekend. I think we can do a little bit more and I have more guys that can compete to play and I think our training environment's been more positive because of that.
"If we put two lineups out there it's not like one's going to win automatically. It's very competitive in our training environment, which is good. Obviously, the hope is it's going to make us better over the course of the season."
