Volleyball star favours education degree for future path

The recently-named top men’s volleyball player in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association believes he is capable of playing professional volleyball in Europe.

But Alwyn Piche, the 26-year-old Dene, is not sure if that is a path he wishes to pursue. Instead, he is leaning towards staying in Canada, finishing off his education and having perhaps a more stable job as a teacher.

There’s no denying, however, Piche is a talented volleyball player. He recently completed his athletic eligibility with Fort McMurray’s Keyano College Huskies. Piche also earned the CCAA title in 2009.
“I’m not sure what my future holds for me,” Piche said.

An option is to place a call to a friend who is an agent. This friend had previously told Piche he could find a spot for him on a pro team in Europe.

“If I call him, I’m pretty sure I can find something,” Piche said.
Though he has used up his collegiate athletic eligibility, Piche is also keen to earn a degree. He returned to Keyano College this year - he’s taking University and Education Studies - after having spent the previous two years working as a physical education teacher/coach in Turner Lake, Sask.

Piche said one of the main reasons he’s considering staying home is because he’s also a father.

“I have a daughter (Layla) now and I want her to have a bright future,” he said, adding having a teacher’s degree could prove to be more financially sound for him than pursuing a volleyball career abroad.

In his final season with the Huskies, Piche led the club to a bronze medal at the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference tournament, which Keyano College hosted in late February.

The top two finishers at the Alberta tournament advanced to the CCAA championships, which were held in Welland, Ont.

Piche was invited to the national championships in order to receive his all-Canadian award. While at the banquet he was also presented with the CCAA player of the year award, an accolade he was not anticipating.

“It was a big surprise,” he said. “I was totally shocked and surprised as other players had better stats than me this year.”

Piche previously won the award for his play during his third year at Keyano College. He then spent the following year playing at the University of Saskatchewan before working the past two years.

Despite being a previous CCAA award recipient, Piche never envisioned winning it again.

“I thought my best days were behind me,” he said.

Piche led the Huskies in numerous statistical categories this past season.

Should he return to Keyano College next year, Piche said he’d be willing to lend a hand with the school’s volleyball club.

Though he is keen to coach in the future, he has no intention of applying for the vacant men’s team head coaching position. Even serving as an official assistant coach is not appealing to him at this point.

“If they need me to, I will help out,” he said. “But I want to lay low for a while. Volleyball has been very time consuming for me.”