St. Vital-based beach volleyball player going places

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This article was published 20/02/2018 (3003 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Erika Vermette knows how to make her mark in the sand.

Along with her partner Dana Roskic, 16-year-old St. Vital resident recently won the U19 Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) qualification tournament, which was hosted by Volleyball Canada on Jan. 27 and 28 in Toronto, Ont.

As a result of their win, Vermette and Roskic will now represent Canada at the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships from June 26 to July 1 in Nanjing, China.  

What makes this achievement even more impressive is that Vermette — a Grade 11 student at Collège Jeanne-Sauvé — and Roskic — a Grade 12 student from Etobicoke, Ont. — only formed their partnership just before the tournament, having had only two training sessions together. They also coached themselves during the trials event, where they competed against 12 other teams, including Team Ontario athletes, Team Canada volleyball select athletes, and athletes from B.C.

“Qualifying for the world championships is really crazy and a great experience for me,” Vermette told The Lance recently. “Before the tournament, we didn’t really know how our opponents played, so it was a neat experience to form a new partnership.”

Vermette said her usual volleyball partner, Anna Maidment, “had a lot going on,” so beach volleyball Olympian John Child help connect the southeast Winnipeg-based teen with Roskic, who he coaches.

Despite only meeting for the first time two days before the recent event, Vermette said the teammates quickly established themselves as a unit and worked out each other’s strengths.

“You have to learn how to communicate very well to play together, and we became a pretty aggressive team. We hit well, and we worked well together,” she said.

While Vermette is modest about her volleyball achievements, and modest about the prospect of taking on the world’s best in the summer, she is grateful to have the opportunity.

“I’m so thankful because this is an amazing prospect. I haven’t really thought about it too much yet, as it’s still sinking in, but it’s going to be an amazing opportunity to see how the other countries compete and their different techniques,” Vermette said.

“It’s going to be a new experience on the court, and new cultural experience, too. I’m really excited to see that part of the world.”

Vermette started playing beach volleyball four summers ago after being introduced to the sport by her father, Denis.

“When my dad showed me beach volleyball for the first time, I thought it would be a super cool thing to try and learn about,” she said, noting how playing in a pair comes with a lot of responsibility.

“There’s a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, and you have to be mentally very strong, be focused all the time, and not let it get you down when something goes against you.”

Vermette and Roskic both competed in the Canadian National Beach Volleyball tournament in Ottawa last August, when Vermette won gold in the U16 division and Roskic won bronze in the U18 division with their respective partners. Both players also play competitive indoor volleyball, and Vermette suits up for U17 Bisons junior team, and is coached by Bison women’s volleyball coach Ken Bentley. For beach training, she is coached by Wanda Guenette, Team Manitoba beach volleyball head coach. Organizers say the pair will be coached by Volleyball Canada’s Adriana Bento in China this summer.

 
To help the support the pair train and achieve success in Nanjing, donations can be made at Volleyball Canada Vision 2020 at bit.ly/supportdanaerika. Donors are welcome to enter “Erika Vermette”in the message field. Tax receipts will be issued for donations of $20 or more.