VANCOUVER – The defending U SPORTS national champion men's volleyball team has yet to raise their banner but are already looking to the 2019-20 season with the signing of Abbotsford's Cole Brandsma.
 
The 6-foot-6 outside hitter is currently a grade 12 student at Abbotsford Christian and was one of the most highly sought-after talents anywhere in Canada. He promises be a prominent piece for the UBC Thunderbirds come next fall.


 
"For us it's huge to continue building our roster," said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. "Obviously we have some talented guys on our roster but it's always great when you can add a guy who's the top opposite in the country, and even better if he's from B.C."
 
Brandsma is no stranger to the T-Birds' coaching staff with both head coach Mike Hawkins and former head coach Kerry MacDonald having worked with him with the Canadian youth national team.
 
"He's extremely physically talented," added Hawkins. "He's a big leaper, he has a pretty live arm. He's a multi-sport athlete so I think that definitely benefits him. Physically he's so impressive and once he can add some refined technical skill to that he's going to be really special."
 
"I'm really excited to be coached by this staff and learn from them," said Brandsma. "Their success speaks for itself."


 
Despite his young age, Brandsma already has a long list of both team and individual accomplishments to his credit. He is a gold medal winner at both the U16 provincial club level and at the 2016 BC Summer Games with the Fraser Valley team. Brandsma also has a U18 club provincial silver medal and a national bronze.
 
He is a three-time provincial high school all-star, a three-time Abbotsford Christian male Athlete of the Year, and was named to the Abbotsford Sports Wall of Fame earlier this year.
 
In addition to the Thunderbirds' excellence on the court, Brandsma's goal of becoming an engineer meant UBC was a good choice both athletically and academically.
 
"I leaned towards UBC because there's so much to offer here, schooling was a big pull for me. I'm really interested in engineering and with the success that the team had here last year it was pretty clear for me that I wanted to come to UBC."