Introducing Jay Tremonti

> New men’s volleyball head coach

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

LL year the men’s volleyball
team was in the spotlight.

A dominant force on the court,
the men had the chance to
prove their worth as they hosted
the CCAA men’s volleyball
championships. Despite not
winning the tournament,

the team finished fourth in

the country, which was an
accomplishment in and of itself.
With the tournament in the
past, and the season over, long-
time head coach Brad Hudson
announced that he had coached
his last game at Douglas College,
and would be moving on to new
opportunities. And with that, the
end of an era had arrived.

However, the end is also
the beginning. For the 2016-17
season, that beginning is for Jay
Tremonti, the new head coach
of the men’s volleyball team.

For Tremonti, this will be the
first venture into college-level
coaching. But age is no indicator
of experience here. Tremonti has
an impressive résumé, boasting
a near lifetime of volleyball
experience. Tremonti is an
alumnus of the University of
Toronto’s volleyball program
where he played five years,

and in just three years since
graduating, Jay has accrued a
plethora of notable positions and
achievements.

Since moving to the Fraser
Valley three years ago, Jay has
found his way into the heart of
the BC Volleyball program. He
holds the position of Fraser Valley
Regional Program Manager, and
he is also coaching with both the
U16 Seaside club, which had a

golden run this year, and Delta
Secondary School. It’s a lot for
one person to do, and with his
appointment as the Royals’ head
coach, he’s going to have to make
a time commitment decision
soon. However, Tremonti feels
that everything is just starting to
fall into place. “The past couple
of years, I’ve been working with
youth in the Valley. When the
opportunity to coach at Douglas
arose, it was an opportunity for
progression and an opportunity
to challenge myself at a post-
secondary level.”

Never one to shy away
from a challenge, Jay says his
job has been made easier by
the warm welcome he received
from the entirety of the athletics
department. He steps into
some huge shoes, and he is very
aware of it, but he believes the
past is more beneficial to him
than it is daunting. “Brad’s built
the program to what it is now,
which is a perennial provincial
contender and one of the best
teams in the country. There’s a
huge foundation that’s set, and
that’s great, but I’m not really
looking towards the past. Sure,
we're going to learn from the
past, but I’m building towards
the future, and I think we're just
going to keep getting better every
single day.”

His job will be made
indefinitely easier by the depth
that was on last year’s team. “We
got some younger guys from last
year that are going to come in
and play some key roles for the
team, and we're going to look
to them a lot. Guys like Justin
Faester; he got to learn from and
play behind some of the great
players last year” Faester was

one of the few rookies on last
year’s squad. His skillful play
captured hima spot on the
PACWEST All-Rookies

team, alongside teammate
Jordan Loewan.

Faester had this to
say about the upcoming
season, and his new
bench boss: “I am looking
forward to returning to
Douglas for the upcoming
season. We have many great
new recruits and returning
players and Jay is a great,
fresh coach that has plenty
of experience from the playing
the game at a CIS level. Jay is an
extremely motivated individual
and we, as a team, are excited to
have him as our coach.”

The team coming up this year
will be young with many of the
veterans from last year moving on
to CIS programs, but Tremonti
isn’t intimidated by that. In fact,
he says he knows exactly where to
look. “A part of my job is to know
pretty much every volleyball
player in BC. With my past work
experience in the Valley, and my
coaching experience from the
Valley, I think it’s natural that I'll
be looking for a lot of talent for
Douglas from there.” While local
talent is always a crowd favourite,
Jay also has roots elsewhere
that he could turn to. Born in
Ontario, and having spent much
of his volleyball playing career
there, it would not surprise me to
see a few players hailing from the
east taking Douglas College into
serious consideration.

As is regular for any coach,
Tremonti already has goals in
mind for the team. But witha
higher than regular turnover rate
heading into his debut season,

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Tremonti
believes
the key to this

season is patience and growth.
“This year is going to be all about
growth. We have a lot of guys
looking to grow as individuals,
both on the court and off the
court. We're going be coming into
practice every day and working
hard to grow, and that’s going

to lead to us being a very scary
team later on in the season.
Obviously the end goal is always
a championship win, but we're
going to be more focused on
growing every day, and letting the
rest fall into place.

“I’m here to build a
sustainable quality program that
students from BC and beyond
can come to and grow from.”

This mentality comes from Jay’s
passion and desire to make a
difference in young athletes’ lives,
as his experience did for him. It’s
the reason he went into coaching
to begin with. “For me, the

Indoor vs. outdoor sports for the summer

> Is one really better than the other?

Davie Wong
Sports Editor

 

t’s an age old debate. Are sports

better played outdoors where
they were originally played? Or are
they better behind closed doors,
where the environment can be
controlled? With summer in full
force, the debate is more relevant
than ever.

Fans of outdoor sports argue
that playing sports outside is how
it’s meant to be done. Many of
the aforementioned sports get

their roots from outdoor play, so
it makes sense to keep them as
such. After all, what’s better than
the feeling of the sun beaming
down on you as you nail that
three-pointer, or the wind rushing
by you as move past a defender?
Or, how about the crisp, cool,
BC air that fills your lungs after a
hard run, either on the court, or
the field? There’s not much that
can match that feeling, much less
replace it.

Yet at the same time, what
makes outdoor sports great also

makes them less preferable for
some. Have you ever played soccer
in the scorching sun, at 30 plus
degrees? I have, and it wasn’t fun.
The unbearable heat made every
little breeze feel like a godsend.
And to top it all off, despite
keeping myself well lathered in
sunscreen, I still managed to get
sunburned. You see, sunburns
don’t exist when you play indoors.
You know what does exist
when you play indoors? Regulated
air conditioning. It keeps the
temperature at a decent level,

while still allowing you to
experience the sports that you
want to enjoy.

Playing indoors also keeps
the extreme weather at bay. Here
in Vancouver, there are really
only two types of weather on the
forecast. It’s either really sunny,
with high temperatures and
maybe a slight breeze. Or it’s
pelting rain with a howling gale.
If you play your sports indoors,
the weather outside doesn't really
matter. No more pesky wind to
account for when you take your

   
  

progression
to coaching
felt natural.

I found my athletic
experience to be the most
rewarding and fulfilling time
of my life, so I wanted to have a
hand in creating that experience
for other student athletes. The
atmosphere here at Douglas is
perfect for that.”

Although the season is a little
while away, Tremonti already
knows how his team will look on
the court. “The first word that
will come to mind when you
watch the Royals this year will
be ‘fearless. We are not going to
back down from any challenge,
and we're going to take the bull
by the horns. We’ve got a young,
passionate group of guys that
will be coming in everyday and
working hard. That’s going to
be fun to watch, and exciting
as well. When you've got that
combination of passion and
excitement, it’s a recipe for some
great things to come.”

long shots or three-pointers. It’s
just you and your target, with no
external factors.

Both sides could go at each
other for ages. Each has their own
points, with their own sense of
validity. However, they both seem
to miss the big picture. Sports
has evolved to a variety of things,
but at its core, it’s a source of
entertainment. Sports are meant
to be fun. It shouldn’t matter
where you play your sport, indoor
or outdoor, if you're having fun.
Do what works best for you.