Sun, sand and serve next up for Voth

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This article was published 18/04/2011 (5527 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Ashley Voth is heading outside for some fresh air.

The Winnipeg product, coming off a storied collegiate career with the Manitoba Bisons that eventually propelled her to the national women’s team, has decided to take a break from the indoor program to try her hand in the pro beach volleyball circuit.

The 22-year-old has informed the indoor program of her intentions and is headed to Toronto in a couple weeks, where she’ll begin daily training in a totally different volleyball experience.

“It’s mixed emotions right now,” Voth said. “Obviously I’m very excited and looking forward to giving this my full attention but at the same time, it feels like I’m closing a chapter of my life.

“I’ve been in the gym for a long time. This will be totally different.”

For Voth, the switch to the sun and sand is a new path to fulfilling a dream she’s had since she hit her first volleyball: participating in the Olympics.

As Canada’s women’s indoor volleyball team continues to struggle internationally (it hasn’t qualified for the Olympics since 1996), the women’s beach program could be looking at an opportunity to send two teams to London in 2012.

The 6-foot-2 Voth stresses she’s not jumping programs because of better Olympic odds. In fact, she says having to learn a completely new game in a short amount of time puts her further away from her five-ring goal.

“The Olympics is the ultimate dream,” she said. “But by no means is this an easier path or a better opportunity — not at all — this is just a different way to try to get there.”

The move to the beach circuit came out of nowhere. At the nationals in Quebec City, where Voth was honoured again as a first-team all-Canadian (the third time in her CIS career), she struck up a conversation with a coach about her plans for the future.

As the dinner discussion continued, it was revealed that the coach (Voth didn’t want to name the coach for fear of getting her in trouble with Volleyball Canada) knew Jamie Broder, a beach volleyball player who was looking for a new partner to replace Liz Cordonier, who decided to go back to the national team.

“Never met Jamie before — we’ve only talked on the phone a few times,” said Voth. “Hopefully we’ll develop some chemistry right off the bat. It’s going to be interesting.”

Not only is leaving the indoor program a tough decision, it’s also one that comes with a small financial hit. By giving up her national athlete card status, Voth forfeits just under $10,000 in annual federal sport funding. While that may not seem like much, it would come in handy for a young athlete paying her own way through the summer until she can show well and generate some interest on the sponsor front.

“I look at it like an investment in myself,” she said, noting that she’ll have a chance to qualify for a beach volleyball card at the end of the summer.

Voth expects to play her first matches with Broder in June.

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