Joey Payeur
It’s not her home province but Manitoba could end up being Adyson Wilson-Hands’ home in the near future.
The 14-year-old Fort Frances resident has attracted attention from some of the top amateur volleyball scouts after her showing with the Fort Frances 14U Vipers at the Manitoba Volleyball Association provincial championships last month in Winnipeg.
Wilson-Hands will head back there in July after being one of 32 players invited to an evaluation camp, which will be overseen by Scott Koskie, an assistant coach for Team Canada’s senior women’s national team.
“I was surprised but very excited to get the invitation,” said Wilson-Hands.
“I was smiling ear-to-ear.
“I saw this bald guy standing in the corner of the gym during the provincial tournament and I had heard there were scouts in the area to check for athletes to be identified as potential candidates for the junior national team,” she added.
That same man is the one who extended the invitation to Wilson-Hands for the summer tryout.
How things go there could determine her living arrangements—and possibly her whole family’s—in the months to come.
“If I make the Manitoba junior team, it could mean my family and I having to move so I can practise more with Team Manitoba,” Wilson-Hands noted.
“I think I’ll be going up against some top-notch competition but I believe in my abilities, and I believe that I can match up well with the others that will be there.”
A spot with the Manitoba juniors ultimately could lead to a chance to take part in such high-level events as the Canada Summer Games.
Vipers’ coach Amy Wilson-Hands was subjected to praise for her daughter at the provincials by one noteworthy
spectator.
“Team Canada senior women’s libero Janie Guimond came up to me between matches, not knowing Adyson was my daughter, and started giving me some pointers on how to get her to the next level,” she noted.
“[Guimond] said she saw some real potential in her.”
But the younger Wilson-Hands doesn’t want to get too far ahead of herself.
“It’s my dream to play at the highest level possible,” she remarked.
“Over the last couple of years, my passion has become volleyball.
“I would love the opportunity to someday make Team Canada,” Wilson-Hands added.
“But my focus is on making a high school team and then a university team.”
