Durham Attack Black Venoms remain undefeated champions
Durham Attack Black Venom U15 boy’s volleyball team celebrate their provincial championship victory.
By Sadia Badhon/The Oshawa Express
The Durham Attack Black Venum U15 boys volleyball team has already shown it’s the best in province, winning the Tier 1 championship. Next week, the team will be off to Calgary that it’s also the best in the country.
The team won the provincial honours last month after defeating rivals Pakmen from Mississauga at the Ontario Volleyball Association provincial tourney at RIM Park in Waterloo, capping off an undefeated season.
Head coach Mike Richardson says a lot of hard work went into this season to make it a successful one.
“The boys are incredibly dedicated and they’re actually a joy to coach every practice because they come ready to go, happy and energetic,” he says.
The other teams brought their A-game to defeat the reigning champions, but the Venoms were prepared to take the heat, he says.
“Last year, we had an undefeated season. Everything just worked out well. We were successful, but the boys also really worked hard and had a lot of fun with it,” Richardson said. “This year, however, every team has come out very, very deliberately to try and take out the number one team because we went in ranked number one. And we’ve lost a couple tournaments.”
The club has done two things to add to the program for the athletes: mental training and sports-specific physical training
Once every other week, the team got together half an hour before practice and went through a workbook that talked about things like the importance of staying positive.
“Confidence and being able to remain calm even when you’re under pressure is the easiest way to success. We never looked like we were lacking in confidence or in an any sort of a stressed situation and I give the mental training 100 per cent credit for that difference,” Richardson says.
The Black Venoms will be going to the Canada National Championships in Calgary from May 16-19.
Richardson expects the team to be in the top three in the national championships.
“If it’s not top three, it’ll be very disappointing. We won the nationals last year…so top three, I think, is very realistic,” he says.
The team has also qualified for the American nationals – one of only six Canadian teams to do so. That tournament takes place next month in Ohio.