Thunderbirds finally have a home court advantage

The court is far from the Field of Dreams, but it’s a court that kept dreams alive.

When Ebb and Flow First Nation started a complete renovation of its school a couple of years ago, it left the Thunderbirds varsity teams without a home gymnasium to train and play in.

But head coach Tyrone Desjarlais was determined to give his athletes the opportunity they’ve worked tirelessly for, so he took matters into his own hands — and his own property.

Desjarlais secured an old volleyball net from the school and pounded wooden posts into the ground, assembling a makeshift grass court to hold practices on in the community located 200 kilometres north of Brandon, due east of Ste. Rose.

“If it’s raining, it’s cold, no practice. Too windy, no practice,” Desjarlais said.

It also meant no home matches, so the Thunderbirds played the entire Zone 8 schedule on the road and entered more tournaments than usual.

In 2024, they won the Rossburn tournament and finished fourth at Sturgeon Heights in Winnipeg. They beat Roblin’s Goose Lake Raiders to claim the zone title and came within a set of reaching AA provincials, falling 2-1 to Warren in a qualifier.

And they are back, hungry to qualify in 2025.

“I don’t think we’d be able to do what we’ve been doing lately without the boys’ passion for the game,” Desjarlais said.

“Not only that, but the support from the school system and the school division. They’re on board with us 100 per cent, they support us to come to these tournaments, to go to the games. It’s kind of a ripple effect of supports.”

Finally, last week, the Thunderbirds were able to practise in their new gymnasium ahead of the Brandon University varsity boys’ tournament.

They played like a group inspired, rolling over the Glenboro Panthers and splitting with the Oxbow (Sask.) Knights and Dauphin Clippers — who finished fourth in the tournament — to wind up second in Pool H and reach the championship side of the bracket on Friday.

Ebb and Flow pushed Carberry to the brink, losing 2-1 in the first round and eventually settling for 14th out of 31.

That match gave the team plenty of confidence for the rest of the season.

“Carberry’s a good team, probably one of the top teams and for us to almost beat them is really surprising and makes me want to be better and to do better,” said senior setter/opposite Gunner Spence, adding the way his group played to rally in the second set was the recipe for success.

“Honestly, all of us have to play our own game and be at our own pace. Everybody’s happy on the court and that’s how it should always be. When we’re like that, I feel like we’re unstoppable.”

The team doesn’t just play during the school season. A handful of the players also cracked club volleyball rosters, including Carson Spence with the Brandon Volleyball Club and Gunner Spence with the Portage Hurricanes.

They get into gyms in their community as much as possible, often playing “king’s court” in the off-season as several teams will show up at the community centre and play, with the winners staying on the court as long as possible.

“It’s super fun. These guys are like my brothers and my family. It’s so much fun playing with them, especially when we get on fire,” said outside hitter Carter Baptiste.

“We’ve always looked forward to volleyball. As soon as it ends, we just say, ‘We can’t wait for next season.’ We just played volleyball almost every day, as much as we could.”

The Thunderbirds’ offence is fearless, full of players who love to swing aggressively and play to win, rather than “not to lose,” with the match on the line.

Their weakness, understandably, after not having a court to dive on for a while, is back-row defence. But they’ll have plenty of opportunities to improve, including their home tournament this Friday and Saturday.

Desjarlais feels this group has what it takes to push for its first-ever trip to AA provincials after moving up from the single-A ranks in 2019.

“We have a full team. It’s not only the guys on the court that are driving us, it’s also the guys on the bench ready to step in, whether that’s for a block or a serve or to cheer the boys on,” Desjarlais said.

“It’s that third set, the emotion, the drive, that’s what the boys remember, that’s what they look forward to and that’s what pushes them to keep coming back.

“It was a little bit frustrating (not having a gym), I’m not going to lie, but the boys knew it was out of our control. We have a beautiful gym now and that’s what matters the most. We’re pumped to get the season going.”

tfriesen@brandonsun.com

Instagram: @thomasfriesen5

— Brandon Sun