Wesmen bring fresh blood to the table

Hearty recruiting brings new hope to struggling teams

Pawel Gacon, Wesmen Men’s Basketball.
Mark Ridd, Wesmen Men’s Basketball.
Kaley Gilham, Wesmen Women’s Volleyball.

The University of Winnipeg Wesmen volleyball and basketball teams are looking forward to next season with a burst of fresh talent to all four teams. A total of 21 new fresh faces will be seen on the court and in the practice rooms during the 2009-10 season.

“Three [recruits] is good for us,” said Dave Crook, head coach of the Wesmen men’s basketball team.

Crook’s three fresh players are Brayden Duff of Garden City Collegiate, Pawel Gacon of St. Paul’s High School and Mark Ridd from Oak Park High School.

“Pawel has a great record and jumped out as a player,” said Crook. “He had amazing high school play.”

Crook looks to keep a larger roster this year of up to 15 players as a cushion for injuries.

“We were a fragile team,” Crook said. “We lost two right off the bat last year.”

With the addition of Gacon and Duff, both of whom will be expected to play multiple roles on the court, and Ridd, Crook hopes the depth of his bench will be enough to propel the team further next season after star player Erfan Nasajpour graduated from the program a year ago.

The men’s and women’s volleyball teams have both brought in a sea of rookies to play and practice with the teams. Including the few team members who red-shirted the past season, the teams will introduce a combined total of 16 new faces, nine for the men and seven for the women.

On the men’s side, head coach Larry McKay will be adding Devin Schmidt (Sturgeon Heights), Matt Schreimer (Miles MacDonell), Kenny McKenzie (Vincent Massey), Matt Stubler (Miles MacDonell), Derek Miller (Miles MacDonell), Jaye Burnett (Lord Selkirk) and Dom Pereira as well as two other players who practiced with the team last year but did not play.

“There is lots of work to do come September,” said McKay.

The team loses Alan Ahow and Paul Kjos due to graduation, leaving Andrew Town as the sole fifth year player on the team, followed by fourth years Justin Duff and Dan Lother.

“There isn’t really any added responsibility,” said McKay of the leadership needed from the older players with such a young team. “[Town, Duff and Lother] are good role models…good leaders.”

An increase of two extra dressed players will hopefully give McKay’s team an extra hand up in gaining experience with such a young base as the league has increased the bench size from 12 to 14 to include the two libero players as extras. McKay hopes to field a total roster of about 18, including those who don’t see game time this year to save a year of eligibility.

The team struggled in the post-season last year after making back-to-back appearances in the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) gold medal match.

Diane Scott, head coach for the women’s volleyball team, matched McKay’s recruiting drive this year to bring in seven fresh players including some experience at the college level.

“[The recruits] have been leaders in their environments,” said Scott. “It’s a good time to build and change.”

Kaley Gilham, a third-year player from Red Deer College (Alta), committed to joining the team to spend at least one of her two remaining eligibility years with the Wesmen. Gilham will likely see a starting role in the fall beside veteran Marlee Bragg.

Other additions include Sonia Rossy (Westwood Collegiate), Kaelyn Gauthier (Green Valley), Alicia Perry (Arborg Collegiate), Danica Hughes (Linden Christian), Carleen Kruschel (Edward Schreyer) and Miranda Grayson (Lord Selkirk).
“I’m very excited,” said Scott.

Many recruits came from the Jr. Wesmen club team, who placed fifth at nationals this past spring.

The women’s volleyball team has struggled since last making nationals over six years ago and have had difficulty making progress in the tough Canada West divisions.

The women’s basketball team has also announced two new additions of their own: Adele and Danielle Baril (Vincent Massey, Vincent Massey).

Published in Volume 63, Number 28 of The Uniter (June 18, 2009)

Related Reads