It’s not every day that programs have to reinvent themselves, but that’s exactly what UFV had to do following the news that it would be leaving the PACWEST conference to join the Canada West conference, and more broadly, the U SPORTS banner after the 2019-2020 season. Converting to the highest level of Canadian university sports isn’t easy, but new head coach Janelle Rozema is up for the task as the Cascades look to build team chemistry, recruit new players, and compete with the best that the conference has to offer.
Rozema began playing volleyball at a high school level before playing in college and eventually turning pro. Her career as the Cascades’ head coach now begins at UFV, and so far, things are looking pretty good according to the new leader.
“I was really impressed with the girls’ work ethic,” Rozema said.
“I think the coach before really set a strong foundation of the athletes understanding what they have to do on and off the court in order to be successful, so I was really impressed with how much they bought into the workouts, the off-the-court stuff.”
She went on to say that the players have also responded well to her coaching.
“I also was pretty impressed with how open-minded they were. Obviously, with a new coach there’s going to be new concepts. They did a really good job of just being open-minded and embracing the new things that I was trying to teach.”
This has led to them improving faster than the first-year coach anticipated, which is paramount to the players who wish to keep a roster spot. One of the challenges of moving conferences is the increase in skill required to compete, which undoubtedly affects who will be able to stay on the team.
“Well, especially because we’re going to Canada West, we have to take a really realistic look at who is good enough to play at the Canada West level,” Rozema said.
With that comes the recruiting process, which will also be challenging for Rozema as it is already late in the year to be recruiting for UFV’s Canada West debut in 2020. That said, the allure of a new program could have a positive effect on recruitment for UFV, but as always, the bigger schools will be hard to compete with.
The real struggle at first will be to gauge the team accurately this season, as the coaching staff will have to carefully make decisions on the remaining roster it has for Canada West. A solid training camp and preseason is the start of something good for UFV, but there is no doubt that the 2019-20 season will come with challenges specific to a new program. One of these will be the outlook of the team: should the team try to treat this season like any other, or does it have to be different in order to actively prepare for the incoming switch?
“It has to be different,” Rozema said. “Our mantra this year is ‘What are you doing today to create the future?’”
The Cascades undoubtedly have no plans to lose, obviously for competitive reasons but also for the fifth-years who won’t be joining the team in Canada West. With this season being their last, the motivation to win big is still there for the team, even in times of transition.
“We’re treating this year like we want to be competitive and leave our stamp on PACWEST, but we want to make sure that we’re working really hard at developing the parts of our game that have to be at the level they have to be at by next year when we’re playing tougher teams.”
Though preparing for Canada West is the primary goal of the program, it doesn’t mean that success is separate from that. UFV will field a competitive team that is looking to improve constantly, which will be something for the fans in attendance to look forward to this season. Rozema is still learning how to be the best head coach she can be, but in doing so, it’s elevating the team as well as herself. These are good times for a Cascades program that is absolutely on the rise in Canada.
The Cascades begin their regular season at home on Oct. 11 as they take on their crosstown rival the Columbia Bible College Bearcats.
Image: UFV Athletics
