Alder graduate Emma Shepherd (Class of 2021) has played volleyball for two years at the University of Windsor after being offered a scholarship to play volleyball and continue her education there. As part of a series with Alder graduates who have continued their sports career into 2023, I asked Shepherd about her volleyball career. Shepherd is enjoying her college experience so far and enjoys playing volleyball for the University of Windsor. 

Q: What made you want to keep playing volleyball in college?

A: I’ve played volleyball my whole life. Going through high school and junior high I branched out to other sports, but I knew that volleyball was the core of it, it’s what I love to do. I don’t really know my life without volleyball, so I decided to keep it, and I would say it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I don’t regret it at all. 

Q: How does high school volleyball compare to college volleyball?

A: There are two answers here. So volleyball in the States and volleyball here in Canada is different. The rules are different, the ball is different, and even the schooling is different. In the States, high schools and colleges, and universities make sports one of their top priorities, but here in Canada, they don’t. So that means it’s not the same funding, not the same resources, but it’s getting there. Sports here are growing and becoming more of a priority like it is in the States, but sometimes it’s just not the same. So then with high school to college, it’s just more heightened. You have responsibilities on and off the court; I have to meet with my coaches every week, I have captain’s meetings, and traveling is a lot. We play this weekend but we leave today for an eight-hour bus ride. In high school you didn’t have that, you’d hop on a bus right after school and you would go. And then here with class, I have to have a certain average to be eligible. It’s just all of the things heightened and taken more seriously. 

Q: Do you travel to the States to play or do you just play against other schools in Canada?

A: No, so the only time we would go to the States to play would be for scrimmaging but we haven’t. The conference that we’re in is all schools in Ontario, so we’ll go all the way out to Ottawa which is all the way by the Quebec border. So we go everywhere, we’ve flown, it’s crazy. 

Q: Is there a way you guys make traveling fun?

A: Oh yeah. There’s also a men’s volleyball team so we’ll travel with the men’s team so my team and the men’s team are super close. We hang out all the time on and off the court so when we travel we’ll have euchre tournaments going, we’ll play games, but yeah it goes by quick. 

Q: I know you talked earlier about how the States get more funding for sports. Does playing volleyball in Canada affect your college experience as much as it would in the States?

A: Honestly, I don’t think so. Two of my best friends play [collegiate] sports in the States and I call them and text them all of the time and really the only difference there is what you get. So what you’re getting from your school and the access you have to things. Those are the little things like the nitty gritty things that you don’t need but like when you go to school in the States you’re like oh my gosh I’m playing D1 I get this, I get this, I get access to this. But as far as experience, no, my experience is the same as it is for NCAA athletes for sure. 

Q: What would you say to anyone who’s on the fence about playing sports in college?

A: I would encourage them as much as I could. I saw something on Instagram or Twitter that said like only 7% of high school athletes make it to any type of post-secondary athletics. I would encourage them as much as they can just to get that experience, meet the people, represent their school, and just ultimately play the sport they love. And if you go and you end up not liking it I don’t think that’s a problem; I think that’s you growing. I think that’s you coming to terms with a hard decision, and growing and taking steps in the right direction. I would always encourage them to try and the worst that could happen would be that you end up growing and realizing a bigger picture.

Q: What’s your favorite memory of playing volleyball for Windsor?

A: Oh my gosh. Okay, so this year we got a new center. A whole new facility, new court, new gym, new locker room, new everything. I would say our first win in the new center [is my favorite memory]. We played TMU (Toronto Metropolitan University) and in program history, we haven’t beaten them in 11 years, and we beat them for the first time in 11 years on our new court so it was awesome. It was so exciting, the crowd was insane, so yeah that would probably be my favorite memory with my team. 

Q: On a scale from 1-10, one being the worst and ten being the best, how would you rate your college sports experience so far?

A: Last year was our Covid season, so I would give mine an 8.5/10.