The Dinos men’s volleyball team is getting a huge addition to their team. Huge, not only because the players are talented and successful, but also because both of them measure 6’7″.
James Brown and Blake Adair both started playing volleyball in junior high school and earned titles like "Male Athlete of the Year" or "All Star" on a regular basis. They also succeeded with their Calgary Club teams.
"I went and tried out for the Dinos club in grade eight," says Brown. "I made it to the top team and we won the Provincials that year–that was a pretty nice start".
Both players met Dinos men’s volleyball Head Coach Greg Ryan during these early years and back then, they did not expect what happened a few years later: the phone call.
It was the choice of both players to play for the University of their hometown.
"My team made a trip to the U.S. Nationals last year and we won," says Adair. "After that I got a lot of offers from universities everywhere, but there weren’t really any great offers because schooling wasn’t that great."
Brown tried out a different sport before deciding to come back to Calgary.
"I got offered a scholarship for baseball in California and I went there for half a year to try it out. Baseball is actually really good there, but the education isn’t."
Both Brown and Adair are going into the Engineering program in the fall.
"I wanted to put my schooling and quality education first and play ball on the side," says Brown repeating Adair’s sentiments.
Both Brown and Adair look forward to playing for the Dinos in the fall and aim high in their expectations for their rookie seasons. Watching the games from the sideline is definitely not what they hope for.
"I want to get physically stronger and improve my skills, so that I get to play," says Brown. Adair is even more optimistic hoping to make the line up for the Dinos team. "I know it’s gonna be tough because there are a lot of good players on the team, but I think that there’s a good chance," he says.
The next big step for the two rookies is the tryout for the Junior National Team, which is coming up in the fall.
"Both James and I will be trying out ," says Adair. "It would be awesome to make it, because if you make it–who knows what can happen. You could make it to the National Team and that is like making it into the NBA…"