Women’s volleyball’s Adyson Wilson, on resilience and reclamation

Adyson Wilson has been playing volleyball since her days in the womb, literally. 

The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) women’s player was introduced to the sport before birth, when her mother would play, eight months pregnant, with Wilson in her stomach.

“I was always around volleyball, all the time growing up,” Wilson says. “But being from a small town, I didn’t really get many opportunities to play. I started club when I was 17. I played in high school, but that’s about it. There was nothing else for us.”

Wilson grew up in a town in Northwestern Ontario called Fort Frances, with a population somewhere in the seven-thousands, about 18 and a half hours from Toronto. 

Fort Frances, at the time, was also home to most of Wilson’s family — whom she was grateful to have around her as a child, a time throughout which she says she sometimes struggled with her identity.

“Growing up, obviously, I am a fair skinned Ojibwe woman, so I felt like I didn’t really fit in with my culture but I didn’t fit in with white culture either,” the athlete explains, adding that cultural courses were hard to come by at the time, in her hometown. “I didn’t really know who I was or who I wanted to be, so I always repressed that part of myself.”

It wasn’t until the outside hitter moved to the Greater Toronto Area that she says she learned more and fully embraced her culture. 

When Wilson was 16, she was named to Team Ontario Beach (Volleyball), whose facilities were based in Toronto.

“And that 18-and-a-half hour drive was not gonna do it,” the athlete recalls. “So my mom just asked me one day, ‘Do you want to move to Toronto or the GTA?’ And I really didn’t put any thought into it and said yes. If I would have, I probably would have said no because I was such a shy child.”

So Wilson moved to Toronto by herself, living with her club coaches for two months until her mother and brothers could get settled in their new home in Milton, Ontario.

“My mom moved across the province for me just to pursue volleyball,” she says. “She dropped her whole life and moved away from our family to make sure that I succeeded in what I loved.”

In 2017, TMU — then Ryerson University — hosted the U SPORTS National Championships at the Mattamy Athletic Centre. A younger Wilson stepped foot into the building that would soon become her second home to catch a few games.

“That was my very first time watching university volleyball, so that was what hooked me to it. All the fans, the team spirit, and I knew this school had an appreciation for their Indigenous students,” she says. “They really wanted them to thrive.”

Some months later, TMU’s head coach Dustin Reid attended one of Wilson’s matches at nationals. “He was talking to my mom. And he was like, ‘Yeah, she needs to message me.’ And we’ll talk about her being on the team.”

Today, Wilson plays an integral role on the university’s high-energy, hardworking women’s volleyball team, despite battling an injury in the 2022-23 season.

Alongside her athletic endeavours, Wilson has found a passion for self-expression through fashion and clothing design. This is often seen reflected in her pre-game, walk-in wardrobe choices, from creative, thrifted pieces to garments she sewed herself. 

The athlete says her interest has also allowed her to connect with her Indigenous culture and community back home, as a good eye for style runs in the family.

“My nana is really big into fashion and clothes-making, and my auntie would make us personalized pieces when we were younger,” she says. “I’ve always been into it.”

This past year, Wilson made her very first ribbon skirt, which she wore to the Bold’s senior night ceremony. Making your first ribbon skirt, she says, is a coming-of-age, resilience and reclaiming tradition in Indigenous culture.

“The materials that you’re given, the very first time you have a ribbon skirt, are the only colors you can use, like forever,” Wilson explains. Her sister gave her red material, with black, red and white ribbon. “And while you’re making the skirt, if you’re making it yourself, it’s a symbol of healing and of who you want to become, after you make it.”

For Wilson, that meant shifting her outlook on a season disrupted by injury. 

“Mental health is really important to me, something I struggled with this past season being injured. So throughout the season, I focused on changing my mindset from someone who’s just like, ‘Oh, this happened to me’ into someone like, ‘How can I use this to my advantage?'” she explains.

The athlete has since realized her importance and ability to contribute to the team, simply by being there to support and love her teammates. 

“I used to have a lot of anxiety about my performance on the court, but now I’m just here to have fun and cheer on my teammates. And that is my role right now. It’s not about me right now.”

Wilson is determined to keep playing volleyball for as long as she can, though. 

“My mom and I have talked about me going overseas to play professionally after my five years at TMU. Volleyball has been a part of me for a long time, it’s a big chunk of my identity.”

As the athlete continues to explore and lean into other parts of herself, Wilson says she’d like to one day produce Indigenous-inspired fashion lines, designed for cultural or everyday wear, or even for sport. And while the young athlete’s future remains to be seen, her self-discovery and reclamation of her identity is stronger and clearer than ever.