Two of the four men who will represent Canada this month at the Deaf World Beach Volleyball Championship this month in Turkey are from the Semiahmoo Peninsula.
Cole Sanderson, a 24-year-old Semiahmoo Secondary grad now living in Vancouver, and Richie Dyck, 33, will both be part of two separate teams at the international tournament, set to run Sept. 15-23 in Alanya, Turkey.
Sanderson will be paired with 23-year-old Edmonton native John Kassian, while Dyck will play alongside Scot Whiteley.
Sanderson brings to Turkey plenty of beach volleyball experience, having won gold at the BC Summer Games as a teenager, as well as U16, U18 and U21 provincial beach volleyball titles.
He’s also been one of the province’s biggest advocates for deaf athletes and sports – at age 12, he created the first all-deaf Little League team with 10 other deaf children, and in high school he was the only deaf member of the Semiahmoo Totems team that won a B.C. high school provincial title. In 2006, he was one of 25 Canadians to receive the Terry Fox Humanitarian Award for his efforts.
Dyck also has plenty of experience, having competing in a number of summer and winter Deaflympics through the years.
As well, he played volleyball at Douglas College.
The Deaf Beach Volleyball Championship is in its first year, and will included 24 men’s and 24 women’s teams from across the globe.
The tournament will also determine the rankings for next summer’s Deaflympics.