FCVC bumping up with recruitment of new players

By Jonathon Brodie/London Community News / Twitter: @jonathonbrodie Who needs medals when you have talent? The Forest City Volleyball Club (FCVC) started their tryouts Sunday (Sept. 9), looking for some new recruits they can develop for this season and the ones to come. “A successful year for the club would be us to make a full slate of teams in all the age divisions for boys and girls and try and see if the kids we have this year developed enough to comeback again next year,” said Vaughan Peckham, FCVC president. London’s premiere volleyball club is looking to field teams from 13U to 18U and hoping to create two teams per age group. It should be stiff competition to make the cut onto a FCVC team after the club had a successful year with 12 squads attending the national championships and the 16U Girls Green Division 1 Tier 2 team and 18U Boys Green Division 2 Tier 1 team picking up the top spots. Overall, FCVC collected almost 50 medals from 15 teams entering tournaments. Peckham though, never once mentioned the club improving on their hardware count to consider the upcoming volleyball season a success. “It’s not for us, it’s not about what the medals are,” Peckham said. “For us it’s about how did the kids develop, so when they leave us, have we given them an opportunity to play at the highest level they’re capable of playing at.” About 100 girls, and the same number of boys later Sunday afternoon, packed Fanshawe College’s gymnasium for the first FCVC tryouts, which included the 13U, 14U and U15 age groups. A former player returned to the fold to lend a hand and share her knowledge with the younger players. “There’s no way I would have become the volleyball player that I did if I didn’t have (FCVC),’ said Eryn Orr, 23, graduating from the University of Brock’s volleyball program after running the ranks in FCVC, as well as playing with the St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School team. “Practicing three times a week and playing once or twice a month in tournaments really helped me develop as a player and there’s no way I would have done that without the participation here.” On Sunday, Orr is on the floor with her old club during tryouts, but this time as a helper rather than trying to make the cut onto the roster. There’s an obvious difference this season than when she first tried joining the club as a 13 year old. “There are a lot of girls out. I never had a tryout with this many people, so it’s probably pretty nerve racking” Orr said. “It’s awesome to see so many out. There’s a lot and that’s what we need for the growth and development of the club.” The progression of players is always first amongst FCVC, but medals aren’t bad either at the end of the day and the club doesn’t seem to have a problem collecting. “The medals reinforce what you’re doing,” Peckham said. “ It’s not the goal, but it’s a reflection that you’ve met your progress. It’s a standard that you can use to get an idea of it.” Follow us on Facebook: London Community News