KAMLOOPS – Thompson Rivers WolfPack men’s volleyball player Sam Flowerday will trade in his orange and black jersey for one of green and gold this Summer, as the 6-4 product of Propserpine, AUS is set to play for team Australia.
Competing in the Volleyball Nations League, Flowerday will get the chance to face the best that the world has to offer. Australia gets their round robin preliminary phase started on June 8 against a Brazil team that finished fourth at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.
No stranger to representing his country, Flowerday was part of the Australian Volleyball Academy for two years, made the extended roster for the Volleyball Nationals League last Summer and also played both indoor and beach volleyball at the youth levels for Australia.
“Extremely grateful and honoured to be wearing the green and gold again and representing my country,” said Flowerday. “I am looking forward to learning and growing even more, not only as a player but also as a person.”
Joining the ‘Pack last year, Flowerday finished third on the team with 113 kills despite missing three regular season games. Flowerday continued to improve as the season went on, finishing his year with a monster 20 kill outing in the WolfPack’s final game against the Mount Royal Cougars.
“Any time a guy gets international experience he can come back and talk to guys about the level of play, about preparation and different things they do on the road,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “All those things are important.”
“Their head coach Dave Preston, who is also the head coach at McMaster University, will have some tips and insights into the game. We ask every guy who plays in the Summer what new things they learned or what new trends did they see. I think it’s great that a young guy gets to travel to the world and enjoy the sport of volleyball.”
Flowerday is another addition to the long line of members of the WolfPack men’s volleyball program that represent TRU on the world stage. Most recently alumni Kevin Tillie and Gord Perrin suited up for France and Canada respectively at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I think every young guy wants to wear their country’s jersey in any sport so it’s a great opportunity for Sam,” said Hennelly. “He had a great second half with us and has improved since the last time he was with Australia, so hopefully he gets to step on the court a little more and experience what international volleyball is like.”
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