Thunder Making Some Noise
In three years the Peterborough Thunder Volleyball program has tripled in size and made a name for itself at the provincial rep level.
For the first time the Thunder’s U16 girls side was promoted to play in the Championship Division and hosted the Ontario East Challenge Cup, against 10 other teams, at St. Peter’s Secondary School Saturday.
While the Thunder struggled in terms of wins and losses, posting a 1-9 record, it was another sign of the club’s progress just to compete at that level.
The Thunder started three years ago with 60 house league players and two regional rep teams. Last year they added two rep teams and now have 185 players through house league and rep.
“This team has medalled every year at the provincials,” said Thunder U16 coach Mike Belsey. “They won gold in Division 2 two years ago. We medalled last year at U15 with a silver in Division 2. Our objective this year is to be Division 1. We’re ranked 40th in Ontario right now out of 65 to 70 teams. We’re going up.”
John Lynch, a teacher and volleyball coach at St. Peter’s, founded the Thunder when he saw a need for rep volleyball in the area. He said top high school players were travelling out of town to play in the Ontario Volleyball Association. He’s recruited Belsey, Russ Cones, Kim Fitzgerald and Jessie Shank to help coach four rep girls teams at U14, U15, U16 and U17.
Get the full story from Mike Davies, Peterborough Examiner
