Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Enduring 24 hours of travel in a mid-September trek from Edmonton to Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany was worth every moment of jet lag for Max Vriend.
Truth is, you couldn't get him over to Europe fast enough after he signed his first pro contract following a sterling five-year career with the MacEwan Griffins men's volleyball team.
"I was so wired about everything, I actually only slept for an hour on the plane," Vriend said in a recent video made by former Griffins teammate Kornel Kowalewski (KK 13 Highlights), who is also his teammate and roommate in Germany. "I'm happy to be playing again. It's been a long time."
As Vriend wrapped up a record-setting Griffins career in 2019-20 by reaching the exclusive 1,000-career kills milestone, winning the MacEwan Male Athlete of the Year award and garnering a Canada West second team all-star selection, he was already in the process of exploring his professional options.
The Barrhead, Alta. product's longtime dream was realized in September as he joined the German side in time for their second game of the Bundesliga season.
"It started before the end of (the 2019-20) season as I first got in contact with my agent in January," wrote Vriend in an e-mail interview. "My agent's name is Guillaume Samica; he has a reputation that proceeds him from his own professional career and people who I know that vouched for him.
"We had interest early in February and March before things starting shutting down. Throughout the summer we had potential opportunities from teams come and go, as everything was up in the air as teams were struggling with budgets and logistical things due to the effects of COVID."
In other years, finding a contract in August or September is rare, but 2020 is an exception to most rules. Eventually, Bitterfeld-Wolfen got their hands on Vriend's highlight videos and …
"I was here in a very short period of time," he explained.
What immediately stands out for him so far this season is netting match MVP in his second game and renewing a friendship with Kowalewski, with whom he played at MacEwan during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The 6-foot-8 Polish middle blocker has played a huge part in getting him acclimated to German culture.
"We are actually sharing an apartment as well," said Vriend. "It helps a lot with the transition. I'm sure anyone would tell you the same, but moving here definitely hit me more than I expected in regards to culture, communication, and leaving your friends and family. So, to have a familiar face who also knows you at somewhat of a personal level helps."
His acclimation process started much earlier than that, however. As he rose to Canada West stardom and began to believe his dream of one day playing pro could become a reality, Vriend started to pick the brains of many area high-level volleyball players and coaches who know the European professional volleyball world – among them Jason and Mike DeRocco, Brock Davidiuk, Graham Vigrass, Brad Poplawski and Shawn Sky.
"The guy I talked to the most about everything has probably been my friend Blain Cranston (a former setter at the University of Calgary), who initially got me in contact with Samica, but we keep in touch with each other on how our seasons are going. Blain played in Germany last year and is currently playing in Hungary in a town outside of Budapest."
So far, Vriend has enjoyed some success while also embracing a learning curve.
"Playing five years at MacEwan was very good for me being physically prepared," he said. "The North American style of volleyball seems to have more of a focus on physicality, whereas here has a big focus on technical skills.
"So, I had five years to develop into my body in regards to strength, jump, speed, etc. Now, it's time to switch to more of a focus on technical development."
Griffins head coach Poplawski, who keeps in touch regularly with Vriend, finds it easy to reflect on the legacy his player has left to MacEwan after a whirlwind of excellence that includes 15 different program records.
"I always go back to one of the first meetings with him and his family when Max was a very tall, very skinny 17-year-old kid in my office," recalled Poplawski. "We sat there for about three hours and just talked about everything. I said, 'what are your goals? Don't be modest. What do you want to get out of your university experience? He laid out a number of things. It's unbelievable to look back and see how many of those things he ticked off the box."
Among those?
Being named to the Canada West and CIS all-rookie squad.
Making the Canadian junior national team.
Cracking the Canada West all-star team.
Signing a pro volleyball contract.
Check, check, check and check.
"The proudest moment, though, is he has a university degree," said Poplawski of the Bachelor of Commerce with a major in accounting and minor in finance that Vriend wrapped up in April. "Whether he gets to Europe and absolutely hates it or he has a 10-year pro career, he has a degree to fall back on.
"The athletics stuff aside, I'm most proud of the man he became, growing up from a boy to a man. He really does check all the boxes. He'll be the gold standard I'll use for the rest of my coaching career – a guy who came in and had these goals and worked relentlessly to accomplish them. It's hard to not love a kid like that."
