OVA News

Sports fans love to debate who is the best player of a particular sport. Hockey’s Gretzky, Crosby or Ovechkin? Football’s Montana, Manning or Brady? And basketball’s Jordan, Bryant or James? are all timeless arguments. In volleyball the debate gets even more interesting when you consider two of the best players of all time were teammates during the prime of their careers.

Volleyball fans could argue who the better player was but John Child and Mark Heese individual skills are secondary to their accomplishments as a team. Together they raised the popularity of the sport of beach volleyball in Canada with their strong play at the Olympics, on the FIVB World Tour and domestically on the Labatt Beach Pro Tour. Their most memorable victory was a bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Child and Heese are also the only Canadian team to win a gold medal at an FIVB event (Berlin Germany, 1996). The have also won seven Canadian National titles as a team.

OVA: Years of playing volleyball?
John: 15 Years Beach, 10 years Indoor, I played club for the Scarborough Solars and High School at Midland Avenue Collegiate in Scarborough.

OVA: Why did you start playing Beach?
John: A friend of mine got me into. I was enjoying indoor, after the season ended in the spring he suggested I play some beach. Eventually we were playing 3-4 times a week at the Balmy Beach Club.

OVA: What do you like most about Beach Volleyball?
John: You have a direct say in the outcome of a game, you are in on every play. You come up with your own strategies, not just playing a role on a bigger team.

John still enjoys training and playing with some of the top players in Ontario. Recently he transferred into a coaching role at Havergal College and with his club program, Leaside Volleyball Club.

OVA: What are some of the challenges transferring from an athlete to a coach?
John: Giving up the competition, you still compete as a coach but you take away that direct impact on the match. You can’t get out there and do it yourself. Giving that up is not an easy thing to do.

OVA: What are the advantages to indoor athletes who play beach volleyball?
John: A more well rounded game. A fantastic hitter won’t get to hit on the beach, and the world’s best setter will do a lot of hitting. The other team is trying to expose your weaknesses therefore you need to work on your weaknesses. Beach gives you various skills instead of being specialized.

OVA: What message would you give to any young beach athlete wanting to play for the National Team?
John: Get out there and play and enjoy it, you can’t put in too many hours. I’m a big believe in you won’t do anything well if you don’t enjoy doing it.

Volleyball continues to grow in popularity every year in Ontario and Canada. Volleyball Canada and the OVA have made some big strides for our National team, including the hiring of our National Team coach Lennard Krapp and partnering with Beach Blast and the Canadian Sport Centre to create a National Beach Volleyball Practice Centre in Ontario.

OVA: Where do you see Beach in Canada going in the next 5 years?
John: Volleyball Canada’s goals are more focused on 2016 than now. Their focus is not on a short term plan, they are trying to develop younger athletes. The program may suffer in the next few years with the hope of developing better athletes in 2016.

OVA: If you could change one thing about our sport what would it be?
John: The biggest thing to improve beach in Canada is the development of a solid National Tour. Not just an International event, teams need to compete on a regular basis, so do coaches. Sponsors need a venue to promote their products. A tour fills all the needs for beach. The number one thing is to develop athletes every weekend. Teams traveling internationally are only in qualifiers for the most part, they need to play more competitive matches on a consistent basis to improve at a quick rate.

OVA: Best memory from playing?
John: Standing on the podium in Atlanta with Mark. Not a lot of people get to do that, it was certainly a highlight of my life. The Berlin victory, standing on top of the podium was also a satisfying moment. The hole journey of playing and traveling with Mark, going through ups and downs and seeing a lot of different countries while being able to compete, that whole journey was the highlight.

We would like to thank John Child for all of his help with this article. We wish him the best of luck with Havergal and Leaside VC this season.

If you would like to recommend someone for PROfiles please contact Josh Nichol
jnichol@ontariovolleyball.org | 416-426-7233