By: Graham West
Heading out to Kingston for this year’s provincial playoffs, Andrew Richards and the McMaster men’s volleyball team went up against the University of Windsor for their 15th-straight provincial semifinal appearance, and won, advancing to the finals.
Unfortunately, their championship bid ultimately fell short, suffering a heartbreaking loss to the hosting Queen’s University Gaels. Although the men’s six-year dynasty was broken, getting to the finals means they also have a spot in the national championship tournament, where they have another chance to go on the court and show everyone why they deserve to be there.
As regular members of the Ontario University Athletics Final Four under head coach Dave Preston for almost two decades, the team has certainly solidified a strong culture of winning. Although, even with prolific numbers and success, Richards says this doesn’t play into their mindset, and that they choose to look at the season on a game-by-game basis.
“Whether it’s a lot of times hosting in a row, or a lot of times being in the Final Four in a row, I think our program does a really good job of not thinking about that too much,” Richards said. “We don't get too far into that because at the end of the day, it doesn’t help us perform on the court. The group this year is really tight and we’re really good at understanding that when we’re on the floor, all that matters is how we can help each other, compete hard and enjoy ourselves.”
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The love of the game is one of the biggest factors for the team’s prolific success. Even so much as just being on the court means a lot to Richards and his teammates, making them fierce competitors as not many teams can match their passion.
“I think we’re lucky as student-athletes to even be able to play volleyball for McMaster,” Richards said. “So for us, we’re just thankful to play and have fun, and I know our hard work and all of our training throughout the year will help us get to where we need to go.”
Even though the team did ultimately lose in the finals, it’s only a roadblock on their way to taking on nationals, which has been a big focus for the team all year.
“I’ve found over my four years that the next two weeks happen really fast, so I think it’s easiest to break it up and take it game by game and enjoy things while you can,” Richards said. “Our team has higher goals than just provincials, so for us, it’s going to be crucial to refocus after every match.”
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Richards emphasized the role that team chemistry plays in the success of the team, especially when it comes to being able to pick each other up when things are down. This is mostly due to the fact that the team is so close and knows each other so well. This is a key reason why they are such a tough group to get through for any competitor.
“Over my years here at Mac, we’re one of the tighter teams,” Richards said. “It’s easy for teams to play well and feel good about themselves when things are going well on the court and you’re winning, but I think when it really comes in handy to have a tight team and work through things together is when things aren’t going well.”
By earning a spot in the provincial finals, the Marauders have also clinched a place at the national championships. The men’s volleyball team will be one to watch during the national championships as they look to make a huge statement after provincials and certainly have the potential to take home the national gold.
On March 15 at 6:00 p.m., the No. 7 Marauders will take on the No. 2 Trinity Western University Spartans to kick-off the U Sports Final Eight. The Spartans are also coming off a provincial silver medal, losing to No. 1 Brandon University in the Canada West Championship.
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By: Saad Ejaz
The second annual Great Canadian Sales Competition is underway this year. With 60 participating schools, the competition is beginning to gain momentum. This is partially due to its major sponsors, which include Google, Air Canada, Xerox and Purolator.
The GCSC is one of Canada’s biggest national student competitions, and invites universities and colleges across the country to take part this year.
The aim of the competition is to make students more aware of the sales industry. Sonya Meloff, the cofounder of the Sales Talent Agency and Great Canadian Sales Competition believes this will help a new generation become interested in sales.
“There is so much misconception of sales as a profession. There is a real lack of knowledge, and sales just isn’t highlighted as an area of study . . . Our intention with the competition was really to highlight sales as a profession, celebrate sales as a profession and promote the profession. And we hope to be a conduit to getting students in front of amazing employers and hopefully getting as many as possible into amazing job opportunities,” said Meloff.
The competition consists of three rounds, and participants are required to use their sales skills to advance through them. To enter the competition, students are required to submit a video pitch about a product or service of their interest. After making it to the second round, participants work with one of the competition’s big-name sponsors to create a pitch for a novel product or service in line with the company’s interest.
Michael Coté, the Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of Purolator showed his enthusiasm for upcoming GCSC. “It is pretty rewarding internally for the sales leaders at Purolator to help and work with our sponsored competitor and help them succeed . . . We help prepare our finalists, and where I feel that most of the fun for us next is to see them presenting in the final round and cheering them on,” he said.
The final round consists of finalists presenting their pitch to a panel of judges made up of executives from Canada’s leading companies. Coté is one of the judges this year in the final round.
All the finalists of the competition win a trip to Toronto, up to $7,500 and a chance to meet the executives from Canada’s leading companies.
Finalist from last year’s GCSC, Rachele Benjamin, stated that although she did not pursue a career in sales, she was able to learn valuable skills and lessons from the competition. “It's important that if you're looking for a career, you approach every opportunity with an open mind. Guaranteed, if nothing else, you will learn a lot from entering and giving it your best shot,” she explained.
The ability to network, construct and present ideas are skills that are pivotal to many jobs in the workforce today. The ability to build on these skills is a fundamental aspect to learn before entering a professional setting and the GCSC hopes to continue helping students find their niche in the field.
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