September 24, 2003

Enter Sapic Builder of Things

Men’s Volleyball

Flash Gordon
Sports Editor

Not a lot is known about the mysterious Royal
leapers, setters, and smashers of the men’s vol-
leyball team. This is mostly because it is a
group of the overlooked that the other colleges
didn’t snatch up in recruitment. Through no
fault of his own, coach Michael Sapic started
off a little behind the rest of the league when he
was hired in May. By then most of the Lower
Mainland and Vancouver Island colleges had
recruited the most notable talents from local
high schools. One way or another Sapic found
16 athletes to stick on the team roster. He
looked for raw athletic talents in need of strong
coaching for honing their skills. Only 12 of the
group will be allowed to dress come game days
so the will be forced to bust their collective
butts to snag a jersey on a game-to-game basis.
Sapic says, “It’s hard to predict who will stand-

ut.” This makes for a competitive atmosphere
in practices.

Sapic’s coaching philosophy counters the old
adage, “If you can recruit well, you don’t need
to coach.” Instead, he feels that a well-coached
group can overcome teams with so-called stars
that are not as well coached. At Semiahmoo
High School, he instills this concept with the
high school team he has coached since they
were in grade eight. The group now is close to
graduating and is considered one of the
strongest boy’s volleyball teams among AAA

high schools in BC. Sapic will continue his
commitment to Semiahmoo to finish out this
season, while also coaching the Douglas squad.

With a former Douglas College and
University of British Columbia varsity player
Ken Laubmann at his side, Sapic will lead the
team into a difficult British Columbia Athletic
Association league. Capilano could be a strong
favourite with a strong group and good recruit-
ment. The Cap Blues are well enough recog-
nized that players will travel all the way from
Coquitlam to join the program. Malasapina
and Camosun threats
Vancouver Island but aside from that, the
Royals have set a goal to finish in the top six of
the league in order to make the provincial tour-
nament.

are noted from

To kick-start the season, Sapic has brought
in the Team Canada Masters over-35 team on
Wednesday, September 24 in the New West
gym. It’s a group of former team Canada and
university players that the coach has played
with. They will provide a more than adequate
challenge for the Royals. The Royals have to
bring their skills to another level in order to
make it a competitive match. It increases the
pressure on the players to perform and will
allow the coaching staff to determine who will
wear the 12 jerseys at the first league game in

October.

 

 

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