Liam Pauls is getting ready to live out his childhood dream later this summer.
Fresh off a U SPORTS national championship with the Brandon University Bobcats, the Balmoral native earned a coveted spot on Team Canada’s NextGen men’s volleyball roster, which will compete at the 2025 Pan Am Cup in Mexico from Aug. 24 to Sept. 1.
Pauls, born in 2004, was one of 32 athletes invited to try out for the national program. After a successful camp, the outside hitter secured a spot on the final roster and will wear the Maple Leaf for the first time in his career.
“It means a lot and I know a younger version of myself would be really happy that I made it here,” said Pauls, who is currently training in Gatineau, Que., the summer base for Team Canada.
Although he’s the youngest player on the team, Pauls will have a familiar connection in fellow Manitoba athlete J.J. Love of Dauphin, who also cracked the roster. The two played key roles in Brandon’s historic national title run earlier this year, when the Bobcats defeated the University of Alberta Golden Bears to claim the program’s first U SPORTS championship.
Now, Pauls and Love are stepping into a new level of competition, surrounded by teammates with professional volleyball experience.
“It’s cool having guys to learn from and guys that have pro experience under their belts,” said Pauls. “It’s a lot different from the university atmosphere where I could be a bit more like a go-to guy but now I got to take the role of learning and just being a student of the game a bit more.”
Team Canada’s summer training schedule is rigorous, with daily sessions leading up to the Pan Am Cup. Pauls said the team treats training like a full-time job.
“You’ll clock in for those six hours of practicing, including a lift or so, so there’s a lot of things we are doing to get better from that practicing standpoint and it being pretty intense,” he said. “Then there’s also nutrition and making sure you’re sleeping right, recovering, and all of these little intricacies that we’re trying to get better with too.”
