Arielle Palermo on a dream come true being selected to be a member of Canada’s senior national team

Queen’s Women’s Volleyball’s Arielle Palermo has been training with Canada’s Senior Women’s National Indoor Team in Edmonton, Alta. the past couple weeks, ahead of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) competitions later this summer. After a great season with the Gaels, where Palermo was named a First Team OUA East Division All-Star, she was selected earlier this month to be a member of the senior national team. For Palermo, being a member of the National Team is the culmination of a lot of hard work and a dream come true.

“It’s always been my dream to play for Team Canada, ever since I started playing volleyball,” Palermo told GoGaelsGo.com. “I feel like everyone, when they’re younger, that’s something they always dream of. And then as I started getting older, it started sinking in that could be more of a reality for me.

“My coaches at Queen’s have been really supportive. [Head coach] Ryan [Ratushniak] encouraged me since my first year to try out for the Team Canada program. I’ve had a lot of coaches, family, and friends that supported me and believed in me, and that pushed me to try out. I started thinking after first year that I could potentially really have a shot with Team Canada.”

Palermo (Burlington, Ont.) got into the sport in Grade 2 through volleyball camps before playing for her local club, the Halton Hurricanes. She also played for Team Ontario from her 16U to 18U seasons, and had her first experience playing for Team Canada when she was chosen as a top player at a tournament playing for Team Ontario, sticking around after the tournament and training with other top athletes from the tournament in a national team program in British Columbia for two weeks.

Palermo was a member of Canada’s NextGen National Team program last summer before being chosen for the Senior Team this year. She said she’s learned a lot this summer as a member of the Senior Team.

“It significantly elevates my game,” Palermo said of her time training with the National Team. “I’m really grateful for the opportunity to train alongside and compete with all the top players across Canada.”

Palermo is a left-side hitter with Queen’s, and led the Gaels in kills with 83 (2.86 per set) and points with 93.5 this past season, but is playing libero with Team Canada. She said there are transferable skills that can help her with Queen’s in the 2022-23 season.

“I am in a different position, but there are a lot of aspects that I can carry over. For example, serve receive is one of the biggest parts of the game, that’s something that doesn’t change whether I’m here or at Queen’s. Getting extra reps, playing against different players who have different serves, all of that really allows me to elevate my range and the way I’m able to pass. That’s something I’ll definitely carry over to Queens. Even defensively, learning the different systems is also very cool.”

Palermo added she didn’t have a favourite position to play on the court.

“I have fun in both. With libero, I’m learning it and it’s new, but it’s really fun. I love both positions; I can’t say I have a preference. But I feel very grateful that I’m able to play both and continue to learn still at like this point in my career.”

Palermo is a two-time OUA East Division All-Star, having earned the honour in 2019-20 as well as this past season, and was also named to the OUA All-Rookie Team her first year at Queen’s in 2018-19. She said moving forward, she hopes to play professionally while also representing Canada with an eye towards the Olympics.

“Post Queen’s, I’m hoping to go play in Europe as a left side. And then in the summers, I will come back and play for Team Canada. That is my plan right now.

“The team goal that we have here, and obviously my goal, would be to go to the Olympics. That would be a really cool experience and I’d be honored to be able to have the opportunity to go to that. This summer we have some big competitions that all count towards qualifying for the Olympics. Lining up my career with that, it’s kind of cool that I’m fortunate enough that I’ll be done University at the time of the 2024 Olympics and hopefully on the path.”

But before that, Palermo will return for a fifth year and fourth season at Queen’s. After the Gaels lost a heartbreaking OUA East Final to the Toronto Varsity Blues (25-14, 21-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-10), where a win would have sent them to the Quigley Cup and earned them a berth in the U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship, Palermo said she hopes she can end her time at Queen’s with a title, but has bigger goals for the team in mind as well.

“I wouldn’t just say win a title, because winning a championship doesn’t define everything, but obviously we want to win. As a school, our name is on the map already, we’ve worked hard as a program to put our name on the map and we’re recognized not just in the OUA but in U SPORTS as well. Continuing to push that [is a team goal], we were U SPORTS ranked a couple of weeks in a row this past year, which was a really big step for us as a team and as a program. Just continuing to make our presence known in the league, not just in OUA but in U SPORTS. Working hard, playing together, playing for each other, playing for Queen’s, and I think the results will come.”

For Palermo, playing for Team Canada was always her dream. Now that she’s achieved it and is part of the Senior National Program, she said she’s not taking that privilege lightly and she’s relaying the same message and attitude that got her where she is now to younger players.

“Being able to represent my country is an honour and taking on the responsibilities of that, I think it’s very cool to see a lot of younger athletes looking up to me and my teammates here. Just taking that with a lot of responsibility, I’m really excited to take that on. And just relaying the main message of, you work hard and you have fun, you can get anywhere. You shouldn’t put a cap on your dreams.

“Dream big; that’s what I did, especially growing up. And that’s the message that I love to relay on to younger athletes that come up to me. There’s nothing stopping your dreams. That’s my biggest take away with it.”