Clark excited about change with national 'B' squad
May 12, 2010 - Regina Leader-Post
By Ian Hamilton
Beth Clark is OK going with Plan B.
The 22-year-old Reginan -- a graduate of the University of Regina Cougars women's volleyball team -- has earned a spot on the Canadian 'B' team for the 2010 season.
"It's overwhelming, but it's exciting," Clark said Tuesday from her new digs in Winnipeg, where the national team is based. "I feel I've worked really hard and I feel I belong here.
"I'm excited to be challenged by all the girls and I want to get to the next level. I want to be challenged by the girls and see where my skills take me. It's going to be a lot of work -- and it'll be worth it."
Clark, a 6-foot-0 middle blocker, was named a second-team all-Canadian following the 2009-10 Canada West season -- her fifth and final campaign of CIS competition at the U of R.
Eager to continue her volleyball career after graduation, she attended an open tryout camp for the national team during the first week of May.
"It was tough," Clark said. "There were great players there from all across the country, girls coming back from overseas, girls coming back from the States -- a really good pool of athletes.
"They're all good players, but they don't know where they're standing and they don't know what the coaches are looking for. So everyone goes as hard as they can to show their skills. It was mentally and physically exhausting."
At the end of that camp, Clark was one of those invited to a subsequent camp from which the national 'A' and 'B' teams were to be selected.
"I sort of expected (the invitation), but I knew the competition would be jacked up at that camp -- and it was," she said. "But it was good, it was fun and it was a challenge.
"There were moments when I was looking across the net at the person I was supposed to be blocking and thinking, 'What am I doing here?' Then you reflect on yourself and say, 'I've worked hard. I should be here and I deserve to be here.' "
As it turned out, Clark was right. She got the news that she had made the team on Saturday morning, drove to Regina on Saturday night, packed up some volleyball gear and visited her family, and began the return trip to Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon.
"I sort of thought we would maybe have some time to travel home and spend time at home," she said with a chuckle. "It turned out I was home for one night and then back here."
The national team trains from 9 a.m. to noon and 4 to 7 p.m., every day of the week except Sunday. The players, who also get Wednesday afternoons off, have weightlifting sessions every second day as well.
The 'B' team, which doesn't have any competitions in which to play in 2010, is to train until August. The 'A' team, which has a number of major events on its slate this season, is to be together until November.
"There's always an opportunity I can move up (to the 'A' team)," said Clark, the first Cougars product to make Team Canada since Falin Schaefer and Tara Smart in 2007. "I'm on the 'B' team, which is good. I'll get good training and improve my skills.
"Then, after the Pan-Am Cup, they re-evaluate the 'A' team and there's a chance I could be pulled up. I'll work hard and see where it takes me."
It already has taken her to a place she has wanted to be at for years now.
"When you play club, you hear about the national team," Clark said. "Then, when you play against the girls (who are members of Team Canada) in the CIS, it becomes a little bit more real.
"This is what you work for. It's the highest level in Canada that you can get to. I'm not going to take it for granted. I'm going to appreciate it every day and try to learn as much as I can."