By Curtis J. Phillips, Fort McMurray CONNECT

Thursday Jan 28, 2010  When the NAIT Ooks of Edmonton visited the Keyano Huskies last weekend for Alberta Colleges Athletic Association regular season play at the Syncrude Sport & Wellness Centre, not only was it an entertaining two days of volleyball action but a sports writers dream. The roster of the NAIT Ooks men had me thinking ink, plenty of it, with feature stories that could last a week!

First off was Greg Mann.  A powerful 6-foot-6 hitter, it was just a few months back that he had traveled from his home of Brisbane, Australia to Edmonton, Alberta to hit the books and hardwood. This was not his first long distance flight though as we discovered that he had also played pro volleyball on the World Beach Tour with destinations of China, Czech Republic, Italy and Poland stamped into his passport.

Also making the long haul to Canada was Dmitry Savinov from Eraterinburg, Russia.  Dimitry knew little about Canadian college volleyball prior to last year. What he did know came from watching the 2009 CCAA Men’s National Volleyball Championships, which were hosted here in Fort McMurray and broadcast via the internet.Something during those three days and 13 games lured and captivated Dimitry (pretty sure it wasn’t my play-by-play announcing which is hard enough for a Canadian to follow yet a Russian) in that he sent out a video tape with his own game highlights to Ooks head coach Simon Fedun. The rest as they say is history.

Also in the building last weekend was a high flyer by the name of Johan Hernandez. Arriving from Caracas, Venezuela he makes the NAIT Ooks, perhaps, the United Nations team of college sports in Alberta. 

But the true human interest story was in the presence of Ooks’ setter Austin Hinchey. When Hinchey stepped out onto the Canadian National Resources Ltd. gym floor Friday night halfway through game two, my first thought was that he was perhaps nursing an injury due to the fact that he hobbled slightly. He quickly blended into the flow of the game. It was not until after the game that we learned that Hinchey had an artificial limb, his leg amputated below the knee due to a genetic brittle bone disorder as a youngster. A youngster who loved and now as a young man continues to love the pursuit of sports excellence. Hinchey is a role model which solidifies one of my favourite quotes, “Everyone has handicaps, only some are visible.”

Keeping down to the college, the Huskies will be hosting a "Hitting for Haiti" fundraiser to be held in-between each game set when they host Briercrest Clippers on Friday Jan 29 and Saturday Jan 30. For only $5 per serve or $10 for three serves with the hopes of hitting a designated target on the other side of the net, fans in attendance will have a chance to win "Dinner and a Movie" courtesy of The Pantry Restaurant and Landmark Cinema.

Catch you on the rebound.