Jacob Ringma, a 16-year-old volleyball player from Centennial Christian School, was invited to the 3rd Annual High School Boys Volleyball All-Star Game in Vancouver on Dec. 14.
The event was hosted by the UBC Thunderbirds Men’s Volleyball team for the top 24 high school players in B.C.
“There are good reasons why he was invited…you have to be a decent player to be declared an All-Star,” says Joel Ringma, who is both his father and volleyball coach at school.
“This is kind of a showcase event for their own program and a way to highlight some athletes that they might one day want to recruit, or have others see them. It’s a chance to get those opportunities for the kids.”
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He says that many of the Team BC coaches overlap their work with the UBC program, so they tend to be exposed to many athletes participating in the big high school competitions.
Jacob is part of the Centennial Seahawks, which placed third in the provincials this past November. The team has made it to the finals for eight straight years, during which they brought home medals for the past six. They claimed the North West Zone champion title after six consecutive wins and not losing a single set in zone play this year.
Joel says that Jacob being chosen for this event is a reflection of his high school volleyball team, where many of them have watched the older boys win and have created a culture of setting the bar high for themselves.
“There’s no simple formula for success… they know that if we work hard, then we too can accomplish this,” says Joel. “It’s great to see them get better and have their maturity grow, it’s a great discipleship opportunity for boys to grow into men.”
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As a coach for his son’s team for the past five years, Joel wants the team to keep playing the sport for years after even after their success. At the school, they annually invite the alumni volleyball players for a few games as a tradition of “passing the torch on.”
Jacob was selected as this year’s tournament MVP, which has likely contributed to why he’s captured the attention of the coaches at UBC.
This is the second time a player from the Centennial Seahawks has been chosen, with Evan Bellman attending the first edition of the All-Star Game in 2016.
Jacob has another year to figure out what he wants to do, says Joel, but volleyball is something that’s definitely on his mind.
“It’s fair to say that Jacob has hopes and dreams of playing volleyball after high school… and this has given him the platform to explore that.”
natalia@terracestandard.com
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