Jamie Brown in action for the Lethbridge College Kodiaks during the 2018-’19 women’s volleyball season.
Coming off a strong season, Fort Macleod’s Jamie Brown will shoulder an increased load this season with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks.
The 20-year-old Brown will be captain of the women’s volleyball team for the 2019-’20 Alberta Colleges Athletic Association season.
“We lost a couple of seniors who were very influential on the court,” said Brown, who is the Kodiaks setter. “Laura Sarafini was our captain as well as my closest friend on the team. Losing her will really push us — especially myself — to dig in mentally and fill the shoes she has left behind.”
“However, we have had an amazing recruiting season this year and we are bringing in lots of talent from all over Alberta and Saskatchewan.”
Brown, an F.P. Walshe school Class of 2017 grad, is entering her third season with the Kodiaks.
In her first season Brown earned the Kodiaks Newcomer of the Year award, and capped last year by being selected the Most Outstanding Player.
“My initial reaction was shock when I was named MVP,” Brown said of the award she received in February. “There are so many talented players on this team and I was still considered to be a young player in the collegiate athlete world.”
“However, I train year round to achieve my goals, so receiving this award made all of that hard work worth it.”
Brown was also awarded the Alvin Tietz/Knud Petersen Scholarship, which is given to an athlete who demonstrates both exceptional athletic and academic skill.
“Although I am beyond grateful for the awards I have received, they are not the reason I show up to play every single day,” Brown said. “It is impossible to explain the passion I have for this sport. We could have gone 0-24 this season and I would still continue to love the game.”
The Kodiaks managed just four wins against 20 losses to finish sixth in ACAC play last year — not unexpected because the team is in a rebuilding phase.
The poor results on the court did nothing to dampen the enjoyment Brown got out of playing for the Kodiaks.
“This season was still a blast,” she said. “We lost a few key players from the previous year so we are still recovering from that, but we are continuing to build our strength back up.”
A highlight last season was a trip to Brandon, Man. where the Kodiaks spent a week training with the Brandon Bobcats, a Canadian university team.
“They play a much faster game than we do in the ACAC,” Brown said. “It was great experience for our team to play with such talented athletes.”
Brown is enrolled in the Conservation Enforcement degree program at Lethbridge College with a goal of becoming a conservation officer on the west coast.
At present Brown is spending the summer as a watercraft inspector just east of Medicine Hat. Her job entails inspecting watercraft to stop the spread of aquatic invasive species into Alberta.
She hopes to land a marine conservation internship on a small Caribbean island off the cost of Honduras next summer. That post would be good life experience and would set Brown up for a good job post-graduation.
Brown is pleased she is able to combine studies with college athletics.
“I couldn’t imagine where I would be without college volleyball,” she said. “It has been the most rewarding experience and I would encourage anybody who is given the opportunity to play at a college level to do so.”
“I have made so many life-long friends in the past two years just because of this amazing team.”
When school resumes and the Kodiaks hit the court this fall, Jamie Brown is anticipating another fun-filled season and she hopes her home town will come along for the ride.
“I have such high hopes for the team this season but we can’t do it without our fans. We love filling the stands at our home games and we have to give a lot of credit to our fans. Our home opener is Oct. 18 against SAIT so it would be so great to see some hometown faces there cheering us on.”
