Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball coach Charles Parkinson will be part of the CBC/Radio Canada broadcast team during the 2016 Olympic Games, which are being held in Rio. Parkinson will be commentating from the CBC office in Toronto during the Olympic volleyball events.
Parkinson, who is a former captain of the Canadian men’s volleyball team, says this is particularly exciting, as he has watched some of the players grow over the years.
“It’s terrific to see them accomplish their first goal, which is getting there—which is so tough—and then having the opportunity to compete,” says Parkinson.
Parkinson says that the fact that Canada is one of the teams that got in to the Olympics is incredible.
“There are two wild-card tournaments where the best unqualified teams in the world get sort of a last-chance qualifier,” he says, “and Canada snagged the final spot.”
Parkinson has been calling games on television since 1990, but for the first four Olympics, he was an analyst, not a commentator.
“When you’re a commentator, you can influence the energy in the show, the type of calls you want to make; the highs and the lows; the language,” he says. “You have more control.”
Describing the “what” of commentary, says Parkinson, is more fulfilling than the “why or the how” of analysis because of the level of immediate participation and control.
“It’s a completely different role and I think it’s way more fun,” he says.
This is Parkinson’s fifth time calling at the international level, but he says it is the first time he has ever called an Olympic men’s indoor tournament with the Canadian team. Being a former player allows him to view the game through a more technical lens than “a non-expert,” says Parkinson, who was inducted into the Volleyball BC Hall Of Fame last year.
“It allows me some insight that maybe a non-expert wouldn’t have,” he says. “If I see something happening and I’m describing the play, I can lead my analysts into an aspect of it that maybe a normal commentator wouldn’t be able to. I can lead him into some more technical ground that might be of interest to people at home.”
The 2016 Olympic Games are being held from August 5 to 21.
Correction: A previous version of this story said there are 220 federations in the world, which is not accurate. We apologize for the mistake.