Kaitlin Minvielle — loves the 'family' atmosphere on the Cats
By The Nelson Daily Sports
There are only a few sleeps left for Mount Sentinel Wildcats.
Thursday, the Cats take to the court at L.V. Rogers in Nelson as host the 2012 B.C. High School A Girl’s Volleyball Championships.
Selkirk College gymnasium in Castlegar is the main site for the tournament.
Hosting the provincial event is nothing new to the South Slocan-based school as Mount Sentinel has been the feature site of the provincial tournament eight times since 1991 and has won four titles since 1997, the last coming in 2007.
Mount Sentinel, currently ranked third in the province at the Single-A Girl’s Division, has not experienced that much success on the big stage of late.
The players are eager to put an end to the drought with the help of the home support.
The Nelson Daily Sports Editor Bruce Fuhr is getting readers into the provincial spirit with a series of profiles on the 2012 Mount Sentinel Wildcats.
Today we feature Grade 12 right side Kaitlin Minvielle.
Kaitlin Minvielle you ask?
Who’s the Mount Sentinel Wildcats player, Kaitlin Minvielle?
A lot of coaches and players have been asking the Wildcats that very same question.
At the beginning of the season head coach Joe Moreira, while knowing full well the Grade 12 right side player would be on the team, wasn’t sure what to expect.
However, Minvielle made it a mission after last year’s provincial trip to improve her game.
So during the mornings, that’s Minvielle in the gym.
Afternoons . . . in the gym.
Evenings, probably lying in bed with a ball volleying it up towards the ceiling and down. And up, and down.
“It seem like every waking hour I’m in the gym and every minute has been a great challenge,” said the 16-year-old Minvielle, who enjoys horse-back riding when not drilling balls down the throats of opponents.
There’s a reason why Minvielle needed to work on her game. The 5’4” Minvielle started the sport in Grade 10, while other teammates were playing volleyball in elementary or early high school.
“It’s been a challenge to make everything perfect despite the fact that I know making everything perfect doesn’t mean it’s going to go your way in the game,” Minvielle explained.
While happy to be hosting provincials, Minvielle is not looking forward to next week when the season ends and teammates have gone their separate ways.
That’s because of the “family atmosphere” she feels on this Cats team.
The Wildcat family that stick together no matter the hurdle is why Minvielle doesn’t feel a lot of pressure to win despite the high standards set by past varsity girl’s squads at Mount Sentinel.
“No, we’re a different team,” Minvielle said when asked the “pressure to win” question.
“While I feel pressure, I feel the pressure is more on myself to perform than at other championships,” added Minvielle, who likes any music that puts her in the right mood.
The draw has been released and Mount Sentinel begins the tournament Thursday at LVR in a pool with White Rock Academy, Credo Christian of Langley and Similkameen of Keremeos.
Four other teams — Kelowna’s Immaculata, Duncan Christian, Ebenezer and Fernie — are also at LVR while the remainder of the 16-team field plays its round robin games at Selkirk College in Castlegar.
The rest of the teams in the tournament include Kelowna Christian, Kimberley’s Selkirk Storm, Glenlyon Norfolk of Vancouver Island, Chetwynd, Cedar Christian of Prince George, Langley Christian, Carver Christian of Burnaby and the mighty Salmo Falcons.
The tournament shifts to Selkirk on Friday with the medal round games set for 5:30 p.m. (bronze) and 7 p.m. (gold).
“The obvious answer would be to win,” said Minvielle when asked about the ultimate goal this weekend.
“But the main goal is to have myself and the team perform to our full potential would be a big win for me.”
