For Nathan Bennett, volleyball is life.
And life is good.
The Athabasca native has spent the last decade living and traveling in Europe as a professional volleyball player. Before that, he spent five successful years playing at the University of Alberta, and before that, he was just another student athlete at Edwin Parr Composite.
“Volleyball came quite naturally to me. It was a passion right away,” said Bennett, on the line from Great Britain, where he spends the summers training with the national team. “It was the sport for me. I tried hockey, basketball, baseball, but volleyball was just something I took to naturally. The other sports, I wasn’t very good at.”
Being tall at a young age probably helped. But some athletes are simply meant for their sports, and Bennett always felt at home on the volleyball court.
“It doesn’t have that physicality that other sports have, but it does have a massive mental edge to it,” he said.
Whatever the reason for his talent, it earned him the attention of post-secondary volleyball programs. The University of Hawaii offered him a half scholarship, but the cost remained prohibitive. Instead, he stayed relatively close to home by going to the University of Alberta.
“It was unbelievable. My rookie season we won nationals. I was on the bench, but it was a valuable learning experience for me,” he said.
As his university career progressed, he took on a bigger role with the team, ultimately becoming one of its leaders.
When his years of eligibility were up, he knew he wasn’t ready to give up on the sport. Making a living in the sport you love is the dream for any athlete, but for Bennett, it’s a dream that could never have come true in North America, where there are no professional volleyball leagues.
And so Europe beckoned.
“Every country in Europe has a professional league. It was an easy decision,” he said. “Volleyball at that time was something that was driving me to go on. It was the one thing that I loved. There was really nothing else that captivated me as much as that did.”
And so began his professional volleyball career which, over the last ten years, has taken him to many different countries. He has played in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, Slovenia and Switzerland.
“In Europe, I’ve pretty much seen everything there is to see,” he said.
One thing he was unable to do was make the Canadian national volleyball team. The opportunity to play in international competition seemed to have passed him by, until London won the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and began beefing up its volleyball program. Bennett was approached to become a member of the Great Britain team, and now he has a good chance of competing in the Olympics next year.
He can play for the national team because he has a Great Britain passport.
“The team I’m playing on right now will be in the Olympics next summer. My job is to make sure I’m on the team next summer,” said Bennett, who is taking nothing for granted as the big event approaches. “There are about 20 players in the program and 12 will make the Olympic roster.”
As one of the oldest players on the team, Bennett brings a lot of experience, which will hopefully give him an edge once selections are made. Competing in the Olympics would be the ultimate dream and the perfect way to bring his playing career to an end.
But volleyball will still be his life. He hopes to find work as a coach, whether in Europe or in North America. He has already started down that road with his involvement in the successful Impact Volleyball Camp, which will make a stop in Athabasca this summer.
“Volleyball is what I know. It’s what my future is going to be.”
