MacEwan Athletics
Some of the best talent in the local high school volleyball ranks will converge on MacEwan's David Atkinson Gym on Sunday for the annual Big Kahuna Edmonton School Volleyball Senior Showcase.
A total of 25 female players from 18 different area high schools will be split up into two teams and will do battle in an all-star match (1 p.m., admission with a non-perishable food donation for The Edmonton Food Bank).
There will be no boys match this year.
Sunday's event will be run and officiated by current MacEwan Griffins players and alumni, including official Jess Brown.
MacEwan women's volleyball head coach Ken Briggs said it's a fantastic experience for top players who are near the end of their high school careers.
"It's neat to see how excited they are to play in an event of any kind that highlights 'hey, I'm a Grade 12 and I got picked by all the coaches in the league,' " he said. "It's a reward or a culmination of their high school career."
The event also pays tribute to two local high school coaches, picked to helm the squads.
"We get to recognize the champion coaches, too," said Briggs. "The teams are named after them. Dusty Freimark of Jasper Place – they won the Div. 1 – and Grant Melnyk is the Div. 2 champion from Salisbury. It's nice that they get a bit of a reward, too."
Team Melnyk will be comprised of Taylor Kosloski (Bellerose), Reinali Calisin (Strathcona), Shahn Yaceyko (St. Albert), Lauryn Tremblay (Paul Kane), Sam Melville (St. Peter Apostle), Brooklyn Boyko (Archbishop MacDonald), Cassy Sides (Ross Sheppard), Quinn Anderson (Bev Facey), Brielle Johnson (Leduc), Dana Dunbar (Spruce Grove), Emily Podhaniuk (Memorial), Janae Vriend (Edmonton Christian) and injured roster player Madi Stevens (Jasper Place).
Team Freimark will have Cassie Cimolai (St. Albert), Kate Molengraaf (Strathcona), Hope Kotun (Bev Facey), Kelsie Dukart (Memorial), Nicole Bourget (St. FX), Kassandra Hordal (Jasper Place), Cassandra Paterson (Ross Sheppard), Beth Snaterse (Edmonton Christian), Elizabeth Reimer (Harry Ainlay), Cassidy Hodgson (Archbishop Jordan), Grace Kruger (Ardrossan) and Bailey Czuy (Salisbury).
The legacy of the event is growing and Briggs enjoys hearing current Griffins tell of their participation in the showcase.
"(It's rewarding) listening years later that they got to play in that event," he said. "We have a number of girls on our team that all got to play in that event and they remember it.
"The league has gone to three tiers now, but getting some of the second division players playing with some of the first division players is really good. We limit every school to two and they have to be in Grade 12. A lot of the coaches use it to reward certain players who had a good Grade 12 year."
