Mixed blessings for Brooks
Feb. 11, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
Mathew Brooks' career will come full circle Saturday.
The 22-year-old product of Whitby, Ont., began his stint with the University of Regina Cougars men's volleyball team five seasons ago at a pre-season tournament in Brandon. This weekend, Brooks will complete his Cougars career with a season-ending series against the hometown Bobcats.
"I haven't really thought about it being the last one," Brooks -- whose squad didn't make the Canada West playoffs -- said Wednesday before the Cougars practised at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health and Sport. "That's not really one of the things you want to think about going into a series.
"I didn't even realize this is my last practice in this gym until some of the guys reminded me of that in the team room. That was a moment."
Brooks had quite a few moments with the Cougars during his career.
Entering Friday's match, the 6-foot-4 right side is No. 1 on the school's career list in attack attempts (2,235, some 700 more than second place), kills (860, about 230 more than second), and points (956.5, nearly 230 more than the runner-up). Brooks also is second in school history in service aces (32), and third in kills per game (2.95) and digs (358).
This season, he leads the U of R in kills (109) and is second in kills per game (2.18) and digs (73).
But the Cougars haven't had much success in Brooks' time at the school. They're 0-16 this season after campaigns of 2-16, 1-17, 1-17 and 4-16.
"Matt's a team-oriented guy," said Cougars head coach Greg Barthel. "I'm sure everybody gets frustrated by our record, but he has never let that show or affect how he deals with people or affect how he prepares. He has always been pretty focused."
"It's something I've come to terms with," noted Brooks, referring to Regina's record. "I've picked different things out of my five-year career to remember. Some of the little things become more important.
"I talk to people who can't believe all the travel we do in the west. That's one of the things I loved the most -- spending eight hours on a bus."
That's one of the things he never would have experienced if he had stayed in Ontario instead of joining the Cougars five seasons ago. Teams in that area don't do anywhere near the amount of travelling that Canada West teams do.
"There's not a whole lot of things I didn't enjoy here," Brooks said. "I got to go to B.C. more times than if I had stayed in the east. Calgary, too.
"I get the gears from one of my better friends out there who's at Western (Ontario).
"They're making a run at No. 1 right now. He was saying, 'You could have been here at Western. You could have been going after No. 1.' I still wouldn't have traded this for that.
"Playing against teams who always win the national championship (as Canada West teams do) was what I wanted to do -- and I got to do that here."
That's why Brooks said coming west to the U of R was "definitely" worth it. He suggested he would do it again if he faced the same decision -- but he doesn't. With his five seasons of CIS eligibility exhausted, Brooks' volleyball career ends Saturday.
"I've spent so many hours walking into the team room or walking into this gym -- always preparing for matches, always with a more serious edge -- that I don't really know what it's going to be like after this weekend," said the kinesiology student. "Knowing that I'm not getting ready for a weekend is going to be different, that's for sure."