Fort St. John volleyball has had some strong female representation in recent years, but now young men are stepping onto the court on the Western stage.

Local Tristen Burridge spent almost a month of his summer trying out, training and playing for U16 Team BC.

There were several phases before Burridge was chosen for the team. First, he and some other Fort St. John volleyballers went to a tryout in Prince George, where he was the only local to be selected to move on to the Baden Cup, a three-day camp with a tournament on the last day.

Of the approximately 80 players at the Baden Cup, Burridge was among the 12 chosen for the U16 Blue team. Another 12 played for the U17 Red team.

“It feels really good, it’s sweet,” he said of being chosen.

He trained for two weeks with Team BC before heading to S.A.I.T. in Calgary to compete at the Western Elite Chapionships against teams from Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba from July 23 to 25.

Burridge plays middle in Fort St. John, but played outside hitter at the tournament. He said it was a really high level of play at the tournament.

“It was a lot of fun. Every team you could win and you could lose (against), they were all close games.”

The U16s came in sixth while the BC U17s placed fifth. Manitoba Black won gold with Alberta White in second and Manitoba Gold in third.

He said it was a great experience to meet new people and get more good coaching.

“There’s good coaching here, but its almost like just different perspectives of the game. Everybody has a different idea of the game, there’s different ways to play so you kind of get different plays and stuff to run that you can take back to your team here,” he said, adding that he has some more passing ideas to bring back to Fort St. John.

His biggest personal improvement has been in his swing, he said.

Burridge will be going into Grade 11 at North Peace Secondary School this fall and hopes to play volleyball in post secondary, more specifically in Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

While the female volleyball programs are strong in Fort St. John, there has been less interest in the male side. Burridge said more males should try the sport, it’s more intense than people give it credit for.

“I like packing people, hitting them in the face when you hit a ball, it’s fun, and getting a big block…it’s more about power than just trying to get the ball up,” he said.

“It’s all quick-thinking too. It’s all mid-air, you have to see the block and the defence and then swing.”