Â鶹ÊÓƵ

A former local volleyball player and member of Team Canada's women's volleyball team, Tonya Mokelki, is hopeful she and her team will be able to represent Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games to be held in London, England.

A member of the national indoor women's volleyball team for the past four years, Tonya is currently playing pro volleyball in Germany in a bid to keep up her conditioning and skills, as the national team just wrapped up a season of games that included the 2010 World Championships, held in Japan in October.

The daughter of Garry and Donelda Mokelki, she attributes much of her abilities and discipline to the training she received at the Comp under coaches Katie Fong and Blake Johnson while a member of the Eagles teams before graduating in 2003.

"I think the Weyburn Comprehensive was a major contribution to where I am now. It was basically the starting point of my career, and had the coaches not taken an interest in me and saw that I had potential, I may not be where I am today," said Tonya. "I am tremendously grateful for all of the coaches I have had through every sport I played in Weyburn and the surrounding areas. I am so grateful that I grew up in rural Saskatchewan because coaches take a true interest in you as an athlete, and as a person."

She noted they helped her develop her skills for the sport and acted as a moral support for her as well.

"I don't remember once in high school feeling like a failure or that I couldn't do something, and that is because of the coaches I had," said Tonya.

Besides attending the Worlds in October, in the past year Team Canada has played in Mexico, Argentina and Peru before they headed to Japan for the World Championships.

"Worlds was a totally different experience than any other type of competition I have been a part of," she explained, with competitions spread over four locations. "The level of play was phenomenal, and there was a big difference in the style of play between the different countries. It was also great to be able to actually see live some of the best players in the world."

Tonya noted as Team Canada has travelled to other countries in the past couple of years, the Canadian women are very close in ability to most other teams, and in terms of physicality, she feels "we are even and even better than the majority of teams out there. It generally comes down to the little things that we need to do better, and I know that by the Olympic qualifiers, with the players we have now and under the coaching of Arndt Ludwig and Scott Koskie, this team is more than able to do that."

There is quite an involved process in making it to the Olympic Games, as only 12 teams will qualify to compete there. Prior to the Games, there will be zone championships and Olympic qualifier competitions, and then the 12-team World Cup next November in Japan, from which the top three teams will qualify for the Olympics.

At this point, Canada is registered for Olympic qualification, and so will compete in the NORCECA Qualifier next December; if they qualify in the top two at the NORCECA championship in December, they will then get to compete at the World Cup for a chance at Olympic qualification. Canada did not get a berth to the final qualifier in 2008, so they are hoping to make it this time.

"Currently our women's team is ranked 20th (in the world) and we know the teams well in our continental qualification tournament, so I think we have a very good chance this coming December-January to qualify," said Tonya.

A big part of the support enabling her to compete with Team Canada has been the Canadian Athletes Now Fund, which is a non-profit organization that provides financial support for the members of Canada's national teams.

"Their support allows athletes to go to training camps and competitions throughout the world that they would otherwise not be able to afford. I think they are a major factor in Canada's success in the past Olympics, and are even increasing their assistance for the 2012 Olympics for potential athletes such as myself," said Tonya.

Currently she is living in Sinsheim, Germany, for the next six months, and is playing there with a team-mate from Team Canada from B.C.

If anyone would like more information about the Canadian Athletes Now Fund, or to contribute to it, check out their website at www.canadianathletesnow.ca.