Over the course of Black History Month, yorkulions.ca will profile prominent Lions student-athletes and student-staff of colour through the return of our Spotlight series. The theme for 2024 centers on ‘Black Voices. Black Stories,’ as we shine a light on the tremendous accomplishments of our student-athletes of colour. Shortly after the conclusion of his first OUA season, learn more about women’s volleyball outside hitter Quincy Johnson
By her own admission, if you’ve known Quincy Johnson for more than five minutes, you probably know where she grew up.
“If you ask anyone, it’s genuinely one of the only things I talk about,” said the native of East Vancouver, B.C., which she calls “a very diverse area” of the city.
“It was a good area to grow up,” said Johnson, who was engrossed in French immersion throughout the entirety of her grade school years. “The schools I went to (exposed me) to athletics at a very young age.”
She excelled in track and basketball as a kid, before picking up the sport of volleyball near the end of her time in elementary school. While admitting she was good at track, Johnson says it’s volleyball where she felt the most comfortable.
“In Grade 7, we had a volleyball team, and my friends thought, ‘Oh, that’s fun, we may as well try,'” said the 6’1″ Johnson being introduced to the sport. “I was significantly taller than everyone else, so it was fun being able to use my height.”
The next year, she tried out for and made her first club volleyball team.
“I wasn’t very good when I first started, but the coaches and my teammates were so amazing, that made me love the sport,” Johnson said. “It’s really hard to put my finger on it, but I genuinely think it was the people that made it as good as it was.”
It was the next year – her first year of high school – when Johnson shifted her athletic focus to the sport that brought her here to York.
“In Grade 9, I started taking volleyball more seriously,” she said, “and that’s what led me to this point. That was kind of the catalyst for it.”
The vast majority of student-athletes are recruited to join their post-secondary squads. While most are seen live by coaches or recruiters in tournaments and games, Johnson’s path to York was slightly different.
“I definitely emailed (Lions women’s volleyball head coach Jen Neilson) a few more times than I should have,” joked Johnson of the origins of her recruitment. “But, she did answer, and we had a few zoom calls and talked about programs. I was coming out to Ontario, anyway, so I came for a visit to York.
“I love B.C., but I kind of wanted a change, and wanted to step out of my comfort zone. I had decided (to go to school in) Ontario. Academically when I looked at York and the variety of programs we have, the diversity and how progressive the school is, I decided on that, and then I looked at the volleyball program and saw how successful the team had been and thought, ‘That’s a program I want to join.'”
Neilson has done a great deal of work around female inclusivity in sport, mainly through her role as chair of the Women & Girls Leadership in Sport Conference organizing committee. Additionally, assistant coach Shanice Marcelle is one of a handful of Black coaches in U SPORTS volleyball. Johnson says they were a big factor in her decision to become a Lion.
“I haven’t had very many female coaches, so that was one of the reasons I came (to York),” she said. “It felt very welcoming, and (with) Jen and Shanice being high performance athletes, it felt like they understood what it was like.
“Shanice was one of my idols growing up, because there weren’t many athletes I could see myself in. So, it was really cool to come here and be coached by her.”
While track and basketball are sports which feature several prominent athletes of colour, Black athletes are far less prevalent in the sport of volleyball. That being the case, Johnson is conscious of the affect seeing others who look like her can have, and is now trying to give back, making an effort to speak to other prospective Black players at Lions home games.
“Making connections like that makes a difference for athletes, because it definitely isn’t easy.”
“In a sport where there’s not many of you, it does have an impact when you see people who look like you achieving such great things,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, I can do this too,’ even if there’s not many of us, I can look at these people and see all the great things they’re doing.”
Johnson says Black History Month is an important impetus for discussing Black history not only during the month of February, but beyond.
“It highlights voices that often tend to be ignored, and brings focus to the people who paved the way for athletes like me,” she said. “Now, it’s a little different, but, growing up, we didn’t talk about Black history until this month.
“I like that we talk about it now, but it’s also opening more space to talk about Black history outside of February. I think it’s a great reminder and brings more awareness to people we often don’t talk about.”
She says it’s extremely important to highlight the achievements of Black people, and to do so through a lens of positivity, rather than adversity being a prerequisite for celebrating Black excellence.
“There tends to be a narrative that there has to be struggle to honour Black people; you can’t just be Black and successful,” Johnson said. “I think it’s important to celebrate Blackness without focusing on the struggle, because Black people have done a lot of amazing things, and I think that needs to be looked at more.”
Johnson’s two greatest achievements to date: making history in high school and becoming a Lion.
“I was the first Black valedictorian in (Vancouver Technical School) history,” she said. “I’m fine with public speaking, but in front of 2000 people, it gets pretty jarring. Being valedictorian was cool, but I was pretty proud of myself for stepping out of my comfort zone.”
“Another one is joining the (Lion) Pride,” Johnson continued. “The recruiting process can be hard for a lot of people, so I was really happy to be given an opportunity to join this team… I can see the hunger and hope on everyone’s eyes in the gym, so just getting a chance to be a part of this community and this team is another great achievement.”
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