Sports - May 14, 2008

Janelle Balkwill heads north on volleyball scholarship

The accolades kept coming last week at the yearend South County Volleyball Club Awards banquet. Three hundred gathered at the Fogolar Furlan, where Janelle Balkwill took home the MVP Award for the 18U team just days after signing a letter of intent to attend Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan on a volleyball scholarship.

Balkwill carries an 86 percent average in grade 12 at Essex District High School and plans to study Psychology at LSSU, followed by a Masters in Speech Pathology.

Eighty-one U.S. schools contacted Balkwill over 18 months, seeking the skills of the 5 foot, 11 inch lefty. After many scholarship offers, all in the U.S., she chiseled her choices down to two schools – one two hours away and LSSU, which is about six hours from her Woodslee home.

Following a two-hour tryout with the current volleyball team at LSSU, Balkwill met with head coach Mark Engle who presented an offer on the spot.

“The school offers the programs I wanted, has a team I feel I can contribute to and fit in well with the current players, and a big part was my connection with the coach,” said Balkwill. “I really feel he has a coaching style that fits my personality.”

Coach Engle, a 14-year veteran at LSSU, likes Balkwill’s quiet focus and sees her as the “go to” kid.

“She plays bigger than her height, but her wing span and vertical jump allow her to match up against girls five inches taller,” he said.

Engle called Balkwill “sneaky good”.

Engle signed another Essex County athlete two years ago – Jessica Ewer, a General Amherst grade who is now a junior at LSSU. Ewer spent several hours with the Balkwill and her parents, Greg and Elli, during the initial campus tour.

Balkwill’s local club career came to an end last weekend at the Canadian National Championships in Ottawa where the team went 6-1. The girls were seen hugging, laughing and crying at the end of the day, with the realization that another chapter in their lives had ended. Many will continue playing at the college or university level here in Ontario.