Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – Dusty Freimark won every colour of national championship medal as a player and assistant coach with the Pandas women's volleyball program, so the emotions will be ever present when she steps back into the Saville Centre this weekend.
It will be like a homecoming for the interim head coach of the MacEwan Griffins as they head across town to visit Alberta on Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (6:30 p.m., both Saville Centre and Canada West TV).
Beyond the gym itself, Freimark will also be going head-to-head with her good friend and mentor Laurie Eisler, who is the winningest coach in U of A history.
"I'm going to compete against my mentor," said Freimark, who leans on Eisler for advice regularly. "I'm incredibly excited. This is why we play sport. But I'm also incredibly humble in that I'm almost going to my hometown with my debut, if that makes sense."
How can it not? Eisler was Freimark's coach as a player with the Pandas from 2002-04 where she was a part of CIS silver and bronze medal-winning teams. Then, Freimark was an assistant coach on Eisler's staff when they won the 2007 national championship.
"I'm going back into a gym that always makes me feel grateful and welcome," said Freimark. "It makes me feel incredibly humble. I have to match that with my competitiveness because I am incredibly competitive, which sometimes makes me a bit emotional."
Both MacEwan (2-14) and Alberta (6-10) will be trying to end losing streaks this weekend. The Griffins have lost six straight, while the Pandas have dropped their last three in a row.
"Practice has been very focused this week, as it is every week," said Freimark. "I'm always incredibly proud of the athletes I'm working with in the gym. There isn't a day that I feel they don't show up. They want to learn. They want to be competitive. They want to find ways to be successful in Canada West, which we know is incredibly hard.
"Practice this week has been no different, other than we're playing our cross-town rivals and that always comes with a bit more energy."
In many ways, it the Griffins will be looking in a mirror. Freimark has shaped the Griffins in the image of what Eisler taught her as a Panda.
"Because of what I've learned from the Pandas program, I feel our systems are a lot more similar than any of the other programs we've played, outside of the Dinos," said Freimark. "They're in a similar system because of Christine (Biggs) and what she brings from the Pandas program, as well. I think the athletes can feel a little more confident in our game planning because they understand the system better.
"At the end of the day, we're playing to get better, but we're playing to win," she added. "That mindset never changes. This one just feels a little bit different because the athletes know who I am, but also it's their cross-town rivals and that always comes with a little bit more of a desire because it's your hometown."
