Involvement of the FTC athletes in the community

In the last few weeks, the athletes of the Full-time Training Centre (FTC) in Gatineau supported the Volleyball Canada Development Model. Through the initiative of the National Volleyball Month (NVM), they proudly represented our volleyball promotion strategy in the region. To learn more about the objectives of NVM, click here.

Upon their return from Argentina in early October, the FTC athletes welcomed players from École des Lacs High School, from La Pèche, during one of their practices. In mid-October, male athletes played exhibition games with the Universities of Winnipeg and Waterloo at the Gatineau Centre. At the end of October, FTC athletes visited more than 250 senior players in the Franco-Ontarian tournament which was held at the Cité Collégiale in Ottawa. Twenty four French-speaking teams from Ontario participated in this tournament, which ended with a demonstration of the FTC athletes in the evening. These athletes formed two teams and played three game sets in front of the spectators.

Thierry Lavigne, the tournament director and physical education teacher at Franco-Cité, is pleased with the success of the event. "I think the event on Saturday night was a great success. The event was an opportunity for young athletes from across the province to observe and meet international volleyball players and see what the next level is. We are very pleased to partnerup with the Full-time Training Centre.. Young people were able to enjoy the event and it was clear the next day that the activity had marked the young athletes. A big thank you and we look forward to working with you again. "

During the months of November and December, the FTC guys will be equally involved in the community. They will open their doors to the community on November 2nd & 30th and on December 21st. On those dates, they will play inter-squad matches at the Centre Sportif de Gatineau. Admission is free. With these matches, local youth will discover what the Full-time Training Centre is all about and will have the opportunity to admire the athletic prowess of these national players.

A final activity is included in the calendar for the guys before Christmas. They will be playing at the Université de Laval on November 9 and at the Université de Sherbrooke on November 10. For coach Vincent Pichette, it is important to do this university tour.

"Just like the games we played against Winnipeg and Waterloo, these events are excellent opportunities to promote the National Team program. It is always a pleasure to participate in these exhibition games in which we have the chance to play against university teams in the country. These opportunities are especially important since the vast majority of our players at the Full-time Training Centre comes from university teams. Finally, these matches provide our team the chance to put into practice the elements worked in training. We are fortunate to be able to measure ourselves to these different teams. "

The athletes are playing a match against a Quebec senior team on the weekend of April 21st in Vaudreuil. This match is scheduled during a 16U provincial championship in under to do promotion for World League as well as mens volleyball. This will be their last promotion before the athletes take part in the B team selection camp at the beginning of May.