The Delta Pacers enter the coming high school senior boys volleyball season with plenty of promising talent including one player who significantly padded his resume over the summer.
Simon Tate enjoyed a leading role with Team B.C. Red & Blue that produced a bronze medal at the 16U Canada Cup in Niagara Ont. back in July. B.C. swept Quebec to clinch its spot on the podium after being edged 3-2 by Saskatchewan semis.
Tate, a 6-foot-6 middle, became the first DSS player to wear provincial team colours in six years following an extensive evaluation process that culminated with a 48-player Volleyball B.C. High Performance Camp earlier this summer at Thompson River University in Kamloops.
The week-long event concluded with the 14-player roster being named. Tate then spent another week practising with his new teammates before heading east.
Two other DSS players, Jimmy Bryson and Sawyer Anderson, were also in contention to make the team.
“There was a lot of hard work that went into it. Obviously, every practice you are having to give 100 percent, just training with the best players in B.C. and you are getting really good coaching too,” said Tate.
It was a significant achievement in a promising career that really began to accelerate when Tate played club with Element Volleyball after his Grade 9 season at DSS. It was a smooth transition given Pacers volleyball coach and athletic director Andrew Robson also happens to be one of the Delta-based club’s founding coaches.
“He told me at the time I should definitely be playing club,” continued Tate. “It’s given me the opportunity to play with some other really good players and against good clubs.”
It was watching his older sister play at DSS that inspired him to pursue volleyball. He has also thrived on the basketball court — reflective in him earning Grade 10 DSS Male Athlete of the Year honours. Now he’s excited to help the Pacers be a serious provincial podium contender the next couple of seasons on the volleyball court. He already has a season at the senior level under his belt as an aged up player.
“I definitely think we will have a chance this year to win a medal at provincials,” added Tate. “That should be our goal and maybe have an opportunity to be an all-star as well.”
It would also further Tate’s stock as a potential university prospect after already getting scouts’ attention at nationals this summer.
