Brent Mutis, CapU Sport Information & Compliance Officer
Playing Blues men’s volleyball at Capilano University has lately been a great choice for athletes who are going places.
Whether it’s going to the CCAA national championships and coming home with the title as the 2019-20 Blues team did or whether it’s getting recruited to join a top-flight USports program like several athletes have in the last two seasons, Blues men’s volleyball is a program building winners.
That kind of success draws notice. In a year unlike any other with few sports taking place at any level, Blues men’s volleyball head coach Dave Dooley is still fielding requests and questions from athletes, coaches and recruiting agencies about how to get involved in the Blues program.
“The (2020 CCAA) championship definitely seems to have put us on the map for different agents and recruits and I have been hearing a lot from different recruiting agencies all over the world,” says Dooley, who is in his third year as Blues men’s volleyball head coach.
The unique training environment Dooley and his coaching staff, including Carson Kauenhowen, Alex Swiatlowski and former Blues standouts Simon Friesen and TheAnh Pham, have created goes a long way in explaining not only team success but also a positive reputation that makes its way to players on their way up.
“Word of mouth and social media are huge when promoting the Blues brand to potential recruits,” says Dooley. “Our current and former athletes are instrumental in advocating for our team and it seems like they are doing a great job promoting the program.”
Incoming players like Matthew Battad, Ethan Apostoliuk and Markus Wong – top players from the grad class of 2020 – are proof Dooley’s approach is having the desired effect. That can also lead to top players being recruited to larger university programs which takes talent from the roster. From last season’s championship team, Markus Bratsberg – who made a successful transition from outside hitter to libero under Dooley’s watch – is now at UBC where the Thunderbirds are a top-10 rated USports team.
“Playing under Dave, I learned a lot about myself both as an athlete and a person,” says Bratsberg. “He challenged me to question the importance of sports in my life and when I told him my goals, he was right there with me every step of the way.
“Dave always challenged me to be better and I can’t thank him enough for that.”
Prior to Bratsberg, Jonathan Lee and Zarley Zalusky also made the move to UBC. Another player that has moved on to the USports level from last season is Serbian international Dimitrije Djordjevic who is now at the University of the Fraser Valley.
“After our 2019 season, we sent Zarley and Jonny on to UBC,” says Dooley. “Obviously they were two of the top players in our program and to send on your top athletes to the next level and still win a championship, to me speaks volumes of our program's ability to develop our athletes while still being competitive.”
Practices are all that’s available right now but they offer a chance for Dooley to set his program apart. On any given day, players’ personal goals are just as important as the team’s practice plan. Dooley calls them “one per cent goals” and each practice, players identify one for themselves to accomplish that day. Post practice, veteran players and rookies speak as much as the coaches do with observations about that day’s training session. It makes for a unique and competitive space but one that allows players’ voices to be heard.
“My commitment to my athletes is to get them out of their comfort zone and ensure that they're always growing,” says Dooley. “When the time comes that they are maybe too comfortable in our gym… then it is time for them to take the next step and accept a new challenge.”
Dooley has accepted a new challenge himself this year as he and his wife welcomed a baby boy to their family in October. Between dad duties, overseeing his current team and handling recruiting, there is no shortage of things to do despite a global pandemic putting the PACWEST season on hold.
“… This is a very odd recruiting year with COVID going on,” says Dooley. “It seems that we've had a lot of interest following our national Championships from very high level recruits.
“So far we have signed two athletes that had both received interest from USports teams, and will be looking to sign one to two more to join an already strong roster full of returning athletes.”
These are the life cycles of a university volleyball team and a look at the juggling act of being a new dad while being a coach the time of COVID-19. So far, Blues men’s volleyball and Dooley seem to be handling it as well as any team out there.
