WILKIE -- The chapters of Wilkie’s Isaiah Mamer story continue to be written. Mamer just returned from an extended experience with Team Canada volleyball.
Mamer started with a selection camp alongside 23 other athletes May 20-26 in Ottawa. The numbers were pared down to 16, with training taking place May 29 to July 17. Mamer says 12 athletes including himself were selected to travel to compete in U21 volleyball at Norceca championships in Havana Cuba from July 3-11. The team placed third in the event.
From Cuba, the team travelled back to Ottawa for three more weeks of training with 16 athletes. To end of the summer, 12 of the 16 athletes travelled to U21 World Championship Volleyball in Manama, Bahrain July 14-17 where they placed 11th in the world.
Mamer says his family were able to follow the team through online streaming and live scoring.
Following the exciting whirlwind Team Canada volleyball experience and competition, Mamer has returned to coaching Huskies Volleyball camps held in Saskatoon. As well, there are a few training days a week with the University of Saskatchewan men’s volleyball team, for which he will play again once the season starts in the fall.
“Our first team event with the Huskies is on Aug. 20 where we will meet in the airport for a week-long trip to Japan. We are going to Budo International University to train with their men’s team, as they did the same over Christmas,” says Mamer.
The biggest takeaways from his Team Canada experience, Mamer says, “There are amazing people in the sport of volleyball. From teammates to coaches and event opponents. I made lifelong friends around the country and the world.”
Mamer says another takeaway is how much work as an individual player there is to do on a continual basis. “There is always bigger and better fish in the sea, and I got to experience this first hand. This will really motivate me even more to get back to the Team Canada roster, and hopefully another world championship one day.”
Continued gratitude was part of Mamer’s interview as he acknowledges the team of supporters behind his dreams that include coaches, teammates from this year and years prior.
“Once again a big thank you to my parents as I know being gone for two months may have been hard on them but the support, they have given me is unmatched.”
You can follow Mamer in his second year with the U of S Huskies on the Huskies Athletics website and social media pages.
