Elion Wong has been named head coach of the Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball team, returning to the program where he once competed as a student athlete.
Wong played for the Chargers from 2015 to 2018, a successful period for the program, and has remained involved in the sport locally through club coaching, strength and conditioning work, and athlete development. More recently, he served as an assistant coach with the Chargers women’s volleyball program before transitioning into his current role leading the men’s team.
In addition to his on-court experience, Wong is also a chiropractor, something he says contributes to how he approaches athlete management and performance. Wong says his return to the program in a leadership position carries personal significance, and he’s got his sights set on nationals.
“Obviously, we have our goals of coming top three in the PACWEST and qualifying for nationals,” he says. “Kind of like every school, you know what I mean? But for me, it’s really about continuing to build within the same program. Just stepping into it, understanding it, and aligning with the expectations that are already there.”
One of the immediate challenges for Wong is coaching a roster he didn’t recruit, something he says is both a learning opportunity and a key part of the transition into the role.
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of unknowns, really, like coming into a team that, you know, I didn’t recruit these guys in the program. The team has been kind of handed to me, all the recruiting has been done. Yeah, there’s a lot of unknowns, for sure. And last year, you know, they had a successful season, but we look to build on that,” he says. “A big part of it is just getting to know the guys and figuring things out as we go.”
Fifth-year Sport Management student and Chargers men’s volleyball player Jake Bolton says that he’s looking forward to working more closely with Wong in the upcoming season.
“I’ve known him for a couple of years now,” says Bolton. “He’s fairly well-known in the Victoria volleyball community. I’ve done some personal coaching for him just on my own time for his club kind of thing. I’d already gotten kind of introduced to him briefly, but it was interesting to see him in a different light like that. He was an athlete here and now, you know, it’s kind of come full circle for him.”
Bolton says that Wong has already begun implementing early off-season activities before the formal start of the team’s training period. Rather than waiting for the traditional late summer start, he has initiated plans for additional court time to help athletes reconnect and build rhythm ahead of the season.
“We usually start training in either end of August into beginning of September, but he has already kind of put measures in place,” says Bolton. “He sent the message… in today’s group [chat] kind of stating that he’d like to get off-season training, so at least once or twice a week have the guys go to the local club and get them on court with reps kind of thing. I think it’s pretty good. He’s trying to get that started before getting the training in over the summer. That’s on his own time, as well.”
The Chargers are expected to begin structured preparation for the upcoming season in the coming weeks, with early court sessions already underway as the team transitions into a new era under Wong’s leadership.
“Yeah, I’m kind of just getting into the onboarding stuff right now,” says Wong. “We’ve already met with the team and gone over some initial plans and expectations, things like second decking and other program standards. We’ll start in the next month or so just getting a bunch of court time, getting reps, and working in alongside their summer training and conditioning programs. Yeah, just really excited to get to work as soon as possible.”