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Rhinos wrap up Volleyball Alberta Premier 1 round

Lakeland club volleyball players wrap up the first round of their Premier tournaments. As they head into Premier II competitions, all nine Rhino’s teams placed in the top four Divisions in the Volleyball Alberta league.

LAKELAND – For Lakeland youth competing in Volleyball Alberta’s club league, the first of four Premier tournament events have wrapped up for all age brackets.  

The Rhinos Volleyball Club has drawn players from across the Lakeland, with some players commuting from as far away as Pierceland Sask., to make up nine teams that range from 13U to 18U.  

While many Rhinos teams have already started competing in Premier II tournaments, the results from the Premier I tournaments have divided every team north of Red Deer and every team south of Red Deer into ranked divisions. 

So far, all of the Rhinos teams have ranked in the top four divisions province-wide, with the Rhinos 16U Black team to be the first team promoted to Division I after placing seventh overall in the north Premier 1 tournament. 

In the following rounds, Premier 2 and onward, all the teams from Alberta’s North and South Divisions will compete together based on their last Premier tournament seeding.   

“So that Premier 1 event is really a very important event because it helps establish seeding moving forward and basically each event seeds for the one after,” explained Scott Cameron, the Rhinos’ club president. 

The final results for each Premier event are used to reorganize the divisions so players are continually competing at a level that matches their abilities. 

“There is no division for that Premier 1 event, everyone starts as an equal,” said Cameron. “During the season, it's like a promotion and relegation model. So, if you finish in the bottom four of your division, you get demoted to the division below you. If you finish in the top four of your division, you get promoted to the division above you.” 

Cameron says the Volleyball Alberta model benefits clubs from smaller communities because it continually allows teams to compete in the division they belong in throughout the season based on a team’s performance and results.  

"Our little Rhinos Volleyball Club from rural Northeast Alberta, goes and competes in these big tournaments. And if we belong in the conversation with the top programs in the province, then we belong, and results dictate that for us,” he said. 

With some of the Premier 2 tournaments having already taken place, division movement for Rhinos teams have already resulted.  

Receiving silver in the Premier 2 tournament, the Rhinos 17U Black team, which competes with 18U teams, was promoted to Division I for the Premier 3 tournament.  

During the same tournament, the Rhinos 18U Black team was able to hold their position amongst Division II, while Rhinos 18U White was promoted to Division III after earning bronze at the Premier 2 tournament. 

Cameron notes that while the goal is always to strive for the apex spot, gold in Division I, the fact that Rhinos teams are able to compete in the highest division among pools of up to 92 teams is an accomplishment in itself. 

“It's always the goal to try and stay in Division I and some of our teams are achieving it right now and some of them are not, but there is movement every single tournament weekend,” he said. "To put it in perspective, some of the clubs of our size, they're not sniffing Division II.” 

Premier 1 results 

13U Black – 13th overall in the North 

14U Black – 11th overall in the North 

15U Black – 3rd overall in the North 

15U White – 21st overall in the North 

16U Black – 7th overall in the North 

16U White – 18th overall in the North 

17U White, competing in the 18U category – 13th overall in the North 

18U Black – 10th overall in the North 

18U White –25th overall in the North 

Building a Lakeland team 

Drawing in more athletes from across the Lakeland following the fold of the St. Paul Rage Volleyball Club has had benefits to the Rhinos’ benches, says Cameron. 

“Having the greater flavour of a more diverse and regional team, I can confidently say that the caliber of all of our teams is definitely deeper,” he said. 

And while the overall results are still comparable to years prior to the pandemic, as the players spend more time together on the courts their combined abilities are becoming more in sync. 

“Have we seen the fruits of that labour just yet? No, but I think it's coming.” 

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