By Jadon Frank

Calgary product brings national success and athletic ability to Briercrest for the 2013-14 season.

Joel Rosewarn experienced high school and club volleyball success on both the provincial and national stage. The recent graduate of Calgary Christian High School (CCHS), where he began competing for the Cougars in Grade 8, helped lead the team to a second place finish at 2A Provincials this past season.

During his Grade 10 year Rosewarn began competing at the club level for Calgary Canuck Stuff Volleyball Club where his greatest highlight was traveling to Toronto for Nationals during the Grade 11 season. The team won the division two national title at nationals that year after finishing third at Alberta Provincials.

Phil Brown, Rosewarn’s coach at Calgary Canuck Stuff, was impressed with what he observed from Rosewarn.

“Joel was a hard worker from his first tryout at the 16U level,” Brown explained. “He was very quiet at first but always led by example.  As he moved into 17U and 18U he became more vocal but still was always the hardest working player on our team.  Off the court he was very polite and always got along well with teammates.  He really became more confident as a person over the three years that I coached him.”

As Brown coached Rosewarn he continued to appreciate what he saw.

“He always understood his role on the team whether it was a starter and leader or whether he was coming off the bench to serve,” Brown said.  Joel always took pride in helping the team.”

“Joel's desire to continue to learn and improve (is his biggest strength),”Brown continued. “After 17U I told him he needed to work on his serve to become more consistent and aggressive.  He took this to heart and after months of hard work he was one of our best servers in 18U.”

Rosewarn, who plans to study Business at Briercrest, has shown versatility during his career.

“I have played middle my whole time at club, but played left side during the school year until Grade 12 where I played middle,” the 6’4” Rosewarn explained.

Briercrest head coach Nigel Mullan likes what he has seen from Rosewarn so far.

“I am looking forward to working with Joel as he joins the program this year,” Mullan said. “He has great fundamentals and is coming in playing the position very effectively.  I think he competes hard and is confident in his ability without losing his ability to be taught, which is so crucial for new players coming in.”

“Besides what he is bringing to the program athletically, I think personally he will be a great contributor to our culture,” Mullan continued. “Joel seems to be ready for the next step and I am excited to see the contributions he makes to the program.”

Rosewarn has also been recognized for his contributions outside of the volleyball court where he received the Service Award at CCHS as well as the Rutherford scholarship.

At the club level, Rosewarn was recently recognized with the Canuck Stuff “Love of the Game” award. Canuck Stuff considers this to be their most prestigious award, recognizing one female and one male athlete for their dedication and passion for the game of volleyball.

Brown expects big things from Rosewarn at Briercrest

“Joel will thrive in the classroom, I'm sure,” he said. “On the court he will be a good teammate that will work hard and support the team in order to reach its goals.”

“Joel was a real pleasure to coach for three full seasons,” Brown continued. “As a coach, I wish that all players were more like Joel both on and off the court.  His family was equally a joy to deal with and we were lucky to have them at most of our matches.”

 

2013-14 Briercrest College Men’s Volleyball Recruiting Class

Keaton Strom • 6-5 • 1^st • Calgary, AB/Centennial High School/403 Selects Club

Joel Rosewarn • 6-4 • 1^st • Calgary, AB/Calgary Christian High School/Calgary Canuck Stuff Volleyball Club

Luke Rafuse • 5-9 • 1^st • Caron, SK/Caronport High School

Jonathan Phillips • 6-2 • 1^st • Caron, SK/Central High School/Moose Jaw Element Panthers