![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/46469481154_515ce4694f_o.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cWe have gone to the PACWEST [Pacific Western Athletic Association] championships numerous times,\u201d Matthews says. \u201cIf you come out to PISE, be sure to come and see our wall, because we have the banners up on the wall permanently. We are almost covering one whole wall now with PACWEST and CCAA [Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association] achievements. I guess big ones for us would be winning national championships in golf and men\u2019s volleyball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the highlights for Matthews is a golf tournament that the Chargers hosted and won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe hosted the inaugural Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association golf championships in 2000,\u201d says Matthews. \u201cWe split the event between Arbutus Ridge and Olympic View. It was a three-day tournament and we had 14 teams. It has since gone on to evolve into a national championship.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the addition of the PISE facility, Camosun gets the opportunity to host the PACWEST championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the past 10 years, we\u2019ve hosted three championships,\u201d Matthews says. \u201cJust recently, we have had the opportunity to put in a successful bid on the women\u2019s national volleyball championship. Our women\u2019s team went all the way to the gold medal game and picked up a silver in front of a packed house.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chargers recently finished the regular season in front of a crowded house for their 25-year anniversary celebrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was really rewarding to see,\u201d says Matthews. \u201cWe won three of the four games. All of our teams [men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball and volleyball] are preparing to go to the PACWEST championships.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(The PACWEST volleyball championships happened after interviews for this story had been completed; the men\u2019s volleyball team took home silver, and the women\u2019s volleyball team finished fourth in the PACWEST standings. The women\u2019s basketball team and the men\u2019s basketball team both took home bronze.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charles Parkinson has been coaching the Chargers men\u2019s volleyball team for so long he can\u2019t remember when he started, but he thinks it\u2019s been 11 or 12 seasons. Parkinson is also an instructor in Camosun\u2019s Centre for Sport and Exercise Education and the Sport Management program leader. Parkinson developed his love for volleyball through a 30-year playing career; having peaked as a member of Canada\u2019s national volleyball team, Parkinson says he always wanted to give back to the sport, so he went out and got his advanced coaching diploma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been coaching now for about 35 years,\u201d says Parkinson. \u201cI got my level 4 under the old system, and I did a master\u2019s degree in high performance coaching and technical leadership because I wanted to be able to provide these athletes with both technical and tactical skills, and I wanted to provide the mental support and physical training they require. I wanted to be able to give the insight that I had gained, having played the sport for 30 years. I can actually impact kids more than just as volleyball players, but in terms of life in general.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all these years, Parkinson says he is still excited to go to work in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI can have the worst day in the world, and I go into the gym with the guys, and I just kind of bathe in their testosterone and their energy and positive attitudes,\u201d Parkinson says. \u201cI find it refreshing and renewing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chargers men\u2019s volleyball team has been very successful over the years, Parkinson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe won the championship six out of the last 10 years, and we have won the last four, and we\u2019re trying to make it five in a row,\u201d says Parkinson. \u201cThat\u2019s something that\u2019s never been done before, and I think that\u2019s something that\u2019s worth getting behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chargers men\u2019s volleyball team captain Doug Waterman is pursuing a degree in the Sport Management program. He says the team has suffered some tough losses, but they\u2019re steadily getting better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we\u2019re really starting to find our team play, which has been nice,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely something you need going into playoffs. We haven\u2019t had an astonishing win record or anything this year, but it\u2019s all a process. We\u2019re coming to the end, so hopefully we peak at the right time, and we can pull out a victory when the time comes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cait Haggarty is behind the bench of the women\u2019s basketball team as coach. Haggarty says she found her love for the game through her playing career, which found her playing at UBC for five years, and playing pro in Germany for a year. Haggarty took an indirect route to Camosun, including a stint where she went through firefighter training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThings were up in the air and then this opportunity came to my plate,\u201d says Haggarty. \u201cI thought it would be a good time to give it a go. I think the island has incredible potential. There have been some great basketball players who have come out of Victoria, and there are a lot of up-and-comers on the island.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fourth year Sport and Fitness Leadership student Tessa Lannon-Paakspuu is one of those up-and-comers on the Chargers women\u2019s basketball squad. After playing on her high school\u2019s basketball team in Penticton, Lannon-Paakspuu tried out for some teams and decided to come out to Vancouver Island and play for the Chargers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI just love the island, and the school itself drew me in,\u201d says Lannon-Paakspu. \u201cI didn\u2019t know exactly what program I wanted to get into. Originally, I was just going to come here for a year and do the University Transfer program. Then I found the program I\u2019m in now. It\u2019s health and wellness and exercise, and that drew me in, so I\u2019ve been here ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The life of a student athlete involves a lot of juggling, says Lannon-Paakspuu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTrying to balance practice, school, and our course load, and then eating and sleeping well\u2026 It\u2019s a struggle, but you have to manage,\u201d says Lannon-Paakspu. \u201cYou figure out when to do homework, and what nights you can get a good night\u2019s sleep. Because I\u2019m in such an athletic program, all of my instructors are really good about it. They\u2019re really understanding when it comes to missing classes for sports.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lannon-Paakspuu is registered in five courses this semester; she says that she\u2019s busy, but so is every other student. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different pressures. A lot of full-time students work and have other things to juggle. I just have to learn to juggle things myself. It\u2019s not impossible,\u201d she says. \u201cThe average student might have a little bit more free time, but they fill that with something else. I choose to fill my time with basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haggarty says that student athletes have to stay on top of things if they want to succeed, both on the court and in the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think regular students have their challenges as well; sport is just another dynamic that\u2019s thrown into the mix,\u201d she says. \u201cWe practice four days a week and play two days a week, so time is definitely limited. I think there is a lot to be gained from it, as well. It\u2019s a really neat experience to be a student athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone I interviewed agrees that student athletes are given a unique opportunity to combine the team experience with a formal education. The impact of the Chargers at the institutional level is significant, Parkinson says, adding that at the individual level, student athletes are learning that there are no shortcuts to mastering a craft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBeing good in anything that you do, whether it\u2019s academics or athletics, requires commitment and hard work,\u201d says Parkinson. \u201cThey learn about those things through their training. They learn about working together as part of a team to try to achieve something that\u2019s greater than any individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An unexpected lesson Waterman learned as a Charger is how to manage different people and different personalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou kind of learn how to deal with a wide range of different people, and how they perceive things, how they work, and how they take in information\u2014or don\u2019t take in information, for that matter,\u201d says Waterman. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great personal learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being part of a team, players really have to interact with people in different ways and learn to break barriers, says Waterman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes in practice you have to get in a guy\u2019s face a little, and it\u2019s nothing personal, but we want to get the best out of each other,\u201d says Waterman. \u201cCharles, our coach, will get into us because he\u2019s trying to exploit the best out of us and he knows what we\u2019re capable of. It\u2019s good to be able to have that kind of relationship where we call each other out, but know that it\u2019s nothing personal. That is definitely a good life skill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student athletes also learn a lot of life lessons that translate into the marketplace, Parkinson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are very few companies that want to hire people who can\u2019t operate as part of a team,\u201d says Parkinson. \u201cI think athletes have a distinct advantage because in order to be successful you have to work together. You have to figure out how to overcome the opposition and put your strategy and tactics into practice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Student support is very important to the success of the Chargers, and Matthews says that the teams get that support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe get a good turnout from students and within the college community,\u201d says Matthews. \u201cWe have a natural rivalry with Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo. Whenever we play each other we have a packed house. The rivalry is always strong and the gym is electric.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Haggarty hopes it\u2019s a fun experience for the fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe try to play an up-tempo game with a lot of running and back-and-forth,\u201d says Haggarty. \u201cIt creates an exciting atmosphere, and that makes people want to come back and watch. The games are usually close. The girls do a good job of connecting with peers and getting some friends out, so it\u2019s a pretty fun environment when we get a good crowd. We just try to keep the game high-tempo and exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Being a part of the Chargers community is something that stays with you for the rest of your life, says Parkinson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople come out to cheer for us, and it provides an incredible motivation, a burst of energy, and a little adrenaline for the athletes, which allows them to do things that they didn\u2019t think they were capable of,\u201d Parkinson says. \u201cIt\u2019s a pretty awesome phenomenon when you see that happen, and you\u2019re a part of that experience. That\u2019s kind of why I do it, and why I will continue to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lannon-Paakspuu says she gets pretty nervous when she sees a big crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m quite the nervous Nelly when it comes to game days, but once the game starts that goes away, and I can really feed off the energy of the crowd,\u201d says Lannon-Paakspuu. \u201cFor the big home games like the season opener, if you hit a shot the crowd goes wild, and it\u2019s such a great feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waterman says he\u2019s pretty good at staying focused on what he has to do on the court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSometimes you want to get the crowd involved and use them to your advantage, but when it comes down to gametime, we need to stay focused on doing our job,\u201d he says. \u201cBut, yeah, hometown advantage is huge, and having friends and family coming out to the games every weekend is definitely a plus.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
More fans than ever before are able to watch Chargers games, says Matthews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThrough the years, technology has really helped us to meet our fan base,\u201d Matthews says. \u201cWe stream all of our games now. We have international coverage online, which is great because of the number of international students playing for our teams, as well as graduates who are living out of the country, and it allows parents to watch the games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of the nature of the competition, the Chargers golf team tends to fly under the radar\u2014the team didn\u2019t play one home event this year. It\u2019s tough for students to get out to see them play, says head coach Doug Hastie, who adds that the team has a very good history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCamosun has won some national championships,\u201d says Hastie. \u201cThey\u2019ve had individual champions. They\u2019ve won the PACWEST numerous times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Hastie, who started as coach last year, says the team is continuing to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe play a schedule, pretty well right from when school starts, so early September,\u201d says Hastie. \u201cWe have five events, including the PACWEST championship, and the top two teams in the conference qualify for the national championship, which was in the second week of October. This year we weren\u2019t expected to make nationals, but we did. We finished second in the PACWEST, and we finished eighth at nationals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
College golf is quite unique because of the team format of competition, says Hastie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFive guys play and the top four scores count,\u201d says Hastie. \u201cThey do name an individual championship, but the main thing is the placement of the team. College golf is one of the only team golf competitions. It\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hastie, a well-decorated professional, brings decades of experience to the Chargers program, having been assistant coach of the UBC Thunderbird golf teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been around golf, whether it\u2019s teaching or playing, for a long time,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are some very good golfers playing in the PACWEST, says Hastie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMost of the guys are playing in their provincial amateur championships. There are some guys in the PACWEST conference that I would say are at the national level. They have to shoot low 70s in competition to make the team. These are not casual golfers. The level of play is just below the NAIA [National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics], which is where we played when I coached with UBC. Our team actually won some of the NCAA [National Collegiate Athletic Association] tournaments. We are just below that, and not far behind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The golf team spends a lot of time together, and teammates develop a close bond, says Hastie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you go into a tournament, you drive on Friday, you play a practice round, you\u2019re staying together in a hotel, and then the tournament is Saturday and Sunday,\u201d says Hastie. \u201cThe guys are together for three straight days for five weeks in a row, and then the sixth week they are together for a week for the national championships. They get along really well, and push each other to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe Parkinson can\u2019t quite remember when he started with the Chargers, but he says he\u2019s going to be around a little longer, and he\u2019s looking forward to next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have another really good recruiting class,\u201d he says. \u201cWe should have another great team\u2026 Right now we\u2019re just gearing up for our own championships this year. It\u2019s one step at a time. We\u2019re focused on finishing this year. I remain excited about the school, and the sport, and about the athletes. It allows me to live my dream, as well. It\u2019d be great to talk about another championship next year, but one season at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over on the golf course, Hastie says he doesn\u2019t expect a lot of change between now and next season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t do a lot of recruitment because we have a lot of students who want to come to the college to play golf,\u201d says Hastie. \u201cWe have a pretty young team, though. We only have two guys moving on, so we have six returning. We have a tryout process set up for when we get back to school.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waterman wants to finish this year before making any decisions on his future. He says he\u2019s really not too sure what he\u2019ll do as far as volleyball goes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf I worked as a coach I\u2019d want to be in it full time,\u201d says Waterman. \u201cIf I can find the time to make that commitment that\u2019s something I might look into, but I also have other plans. I want to start working and making some money and doing my own thing in the music world. I make music, and I produce my own stuff. I sing and rap.\u201d (See our full story on Waterman\u2019s music on page 4.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lannon-Paakspuu has one season left with the Chargers, and says she will likely need a break once she graduates and makes her next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s funny, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll end up using my degree,\u201d says Lannon-Paakspuu. \u201cI actually plan on being a police officer. Hopefully Saanich or Victoria police, but I\u2019ll see once I graduate where I can apply. My program kind of led me into it. One of our coaches, Niki [Sundher], is a police officer with Saanich, I believe, and she loves her job, and that really made me keen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As far as the future of the Chargers goes, Matthews says there is definitely potential to expand, and mentions bringing in a new sport entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe original plan was to have men\u2019s and women\u2019s soccer, but because of how things evolved, and a lack of facilities and funding to get them going, they were always kept on the backburner,\u201d says Matthews. \u201cIt would be good [to have them] because soccer is quite strong in this community. We\u2019re always fielding interest from students wanting to play soccer for the college. I think we\u2019ll be able to field fairly strong teams. There is a good pool of coaches that we could bring in. It would give us a nice balance to our athletic program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Chargers golfers hope to continue to have success, but there is definitely room to expand the program, says Hastie, pointing to a rather obvious missing link in the golf program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe would love to have a women\u2019s team,\u201d says Hastie. \u201cWe have had one in the past. We would like to get the program going again if we can get enough interest. I would love to take on the coaching duties if I could.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the greatest rewards of working with the Chargers is seeing how successful some of their former student athletes and coaches have become, says Matthews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMany have gone on to professional careers, whether in the medical field, policing, or teaching,\u201d says Matthews. \u201cSome have continued on to get their master\u2019s degree. Sometimes we see ex-athletes come back with their families to show their kids where they came from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The experience is much bigger than the sport, Parkinson says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are friendships that last forever,\u201d says Parkinson. \u201cYou can couple those life experiences with an education. We all know that volleyball is a moment in time, but education lasts forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Waterman says that his Chargers experience has completely changed his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe last five years, playing as a Charger, has been the best chapter of my life, for sure,\u201d says Waterman. \u201cI remember my first year very clearly, just watching my captains, and the older players, and now it\u2019s switched. Being able to grow as a player and become a leader… I\u2019m the guy who\u2019ll be going out the door soon. It has been quite an experience, and it\u2019s definitely something I\u2019ll be happy to look back on in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Recently, the men and women of the Camosun Chargers volleyball and basketball teams experienced the sort of pressure only rivalled by the most daunting of all midterms as they stepped onto a gymnasium floor and got ready to play in provincial championship games. And none of the teams even had home court advantage. It\u2019s all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,228],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-march-6-2019"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17304,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17302\/revisions\/17304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}