POV: You’re a two-year product of the National Excellence Program

In this article Sophia Magus recounts her experiences at the National Excellence Program; how how she grew personally and athletically, as well as what she gained from the intense training program.

The National Excellence Program, otherwise known as NEP, is a high performance training program that takes grade 11 and 12 high school volleyball athletes from across the country, who have the potential to eventually contribute to the senior national team. These athletes are immersed into a rigorous training environment, where they are taught the systems, tactics, and techniques that the Senior National Team uses. In a lot of ways, it is an introduction and preparation for what post-secondary volleyball training will entail, and what National Team and professional volleyball will look like. We train 5 days a week, and lift three times a week, and the days that we do not lift there are smaller, skill-group practices, paired with the full-team practice.

Volleyball has been a way of life in my family long before I was even born, and it is my greatest passion, so naturally when I got a chance to train with the best in the country, I couldn’t say yes fast enough. My name is Sophia Magus, I am 17 years old, and I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I have been fortunate enough to be a part of Volleyball Canada’s National Excellence Program in 2021 and 2022, as well as the U19 Youth National Team in 2022.

I firmly believe that this program was the best thing I ever did for myself as an athlete, and as a person. Throughout my two years with the program, I was pushed to my limits again and again, and every time I thought I had mastered a skill, I found new ways to improve myself all over again. I had the privilege of being coached by some amazing people in both years, and some very strong women that I look up to as leaders in this sport.

Something that coach Shannon Winzer said to the team on my first day ever with the National Excellence Program, was “You have not arrived yet”. The message was that we are always striving to be the best in all aspects of the game, and we can never be satisfied with where we are currently. Just because I was one of the top high school setters in the country, didn’t mean that my volleyball journey was just a piece-of-cake, walk to the top, everything has to be earned in the gym. That stuck with me because I knew that this was only the first step in my volleyball journey, and that I am always in a process of growth and becoming.  

Something else that I gained from the program, is the concept of accountability and how it pertains to not just what we say, but how we act upon our words. This was a big drive behind the work that myself and my teammates put in every single day. When I said I was going to commit to something, whether that be techniques, nutrition, a game plan, or even just simply completing my school work, I worked as hard as I could to follow through with my actions. Because in reality, the only way to help your team grow and push your teammates to be better, is to be 100% dialed in yourself, as nobody wants to be teammates with a hypocrite.

In terms of what I gained from NEP volleyball wise, I was in a setters heaven. Me and my fellow setters had triweekly setting tutors, where we could purely set for 30 minutes before the team practice. Additionally, there was video delay on our courts, which allowed for an in-the-moment analysis of our movements and skills, which was something I had never had access to before. I learned the benefit of the pivot step, and how to use it along with quick release and finish to be able to expand my range and set with speed from all over the court. As someone who loves to analyze the game with a setters mind, the coaches didn’t just coach technique, they also showed us how to make good setting choices, and pushed us to run a diverse offense that could expose our opponents defense and blocking schemes. We also had opportunities to scrimmage against both CCAA and USPORT teams throughout the program, and it was really cool to be able to take these different offensive game-plans and try to execute them against a variety of competition.

I would be lying however, if I didn’t say that the training comes with its ups and downs. The truth is that no high schooler is prepared for what NEP entails, the first month is a real wakeup call that training every day, completing school online, eating properly, managing your body, and getting enough sleep, is tough to balance when your body and mind have never done anything like it before. My first few weeks I learnt a lot, and I realized that recovery for both body and mind are key to staying healthy, happy, and being able to gain as much from the program as possible. The truth is, I am extremely fortunate that I was able to be a part of NEP for one, let alone two years, so I made sure that every day was approached with gratitude, and the mindset that I would leave no wasted reps once I finished the program in December 2022.

My biggest piece of advice for any young person that has big aspirations, is to go all-in on your dreams, and remember that there is no substitute for putting in hard, focused, intense, work. I bought into that mindset almost two years ago, and so far it has been paying off pretty well for me. If you ever get an amazing opportunity in any aspect of life whether it be sports or not, go get it, and always be grateful that you have the chance that hundreds, if not thousands of other people would take in a heartbeat. I am forever grateful for the time I spent at the National Excellence Program, and for the amazing coaches Shannon, Carolyn, Cody, and Sandra, who have helped me grow and realize that I can do great things in this sport, and that this is only the beginning in working to achieve my dreams.