For this project: Community Connections, I chose to interview a person who had the same passion as me and that is Derek Epp.

Derek Epp is a professional volleyball player for the Trinity Western Spartans. He plays in the setter position and he and his team won multiple Canada West championships. He was on the youth national team and played for Team Canada National team. He is also the setter on the first all-star team for this year.

He is my role model because he is such a good setter and a good player in overall and I wanted to become a person like him. Not only is he good at volleyball but he is also a really good person in general. He is friendly and very kind. When I first contacted him, I thought he wasn’t going to respond since he’s very popular and he is busy with his volleyball life but very kindly, he decided to help me out answering a few questions for me. I am extremely grateful for this. I decided to contact Derek Epp because he was one of the best setters that I ever knew in volleyball. Of course, there are a lot of great setters around the world such as Micah Christenson, Bruno Rezende, and Benjamin Toniutti etc. but on that list, there was Derek Epp. I started to know him around an year ago when I actually started to get into volleyball as a sport to play even from outside of school and I knew he was close by and played nearby, I decided to go to one of his games and have a little talk with him. The biggest reason why I chose this individual is because he is my role model because he is kind, friendly, caring and most of all, a great teammate.

That is what the most important thing is for the sport and I want to be just like him. This interview opened up my relationships but also my confidence. It opened up more opportunities for me because I just started to play volleyball and I’m not amazing at it like my peers and all I thought about is that “Only the players that start when they’re really young are amazing at volleyball” but after I heard Derek’s story, I was inspired since he said that he started in grade 9 so it gave me more confidence of the chance of me getting better and having an opportunity on the starting lineup as the main setter.

There is no exact link/website to my interviewee so here, I just have the athletics website of Trinity Western. And to see his photos, you may just hover over the MENU button and click on the category of MEN’S VOLLEYBALL. Then you can see all the things on the website.

1. Why are you passionate about your job?

“I think my passion for volleyball stems from an internal drive to pursue the best version of myself. I love to play the game, and it gives me the opportunity everyday to try and better myself as a player and as a human. It gives me more opportunities to make and work on relationships, to work on my physical fitness and health, and gives me opportunities to pursue the best version of myself as a volleyball player everyday.”

1. What obstacles have you faced to get you where you are today?

“There have been many instances of adversity throughout my career. One of the biggest would be making the decision to leave home, and leave my family to come out to Trinity (Western University) to pursue my volleyball dreams. That was one of my hardest decisions I’ve had to make in my life, but also one of the best decisions I’ve made. There have been lots of volleyball specific obstacles, which can be overcome with determination, grit, and a love for what you doing.”

1. What advice would you pass on to someone interested in what you are doing?

“As far as volleyball goes, I would suggest to get in the gym as much as possible. Get as many reps in as you can. Work day and night trying to perfect your craft. Be the first in the gym and last to leave, all the while being the hardest worker there. A quote I really like is ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’. How hard you are willing to work and how many hours you’re willing to put in is completely in your control and allows you to fully maximize the gifts that you have been given.”

1. Would you be open to further contact from Riverside students and if so, how can someone contact you?

Of course, and my e-mail is derekepp98@gmail.com

1. What inspired you to become particularly a setter for professional league volleyball

“The thing that I love the most about volleyball is how interdependent it is as a sport. You always need to be working as a team, one player can’t win the game for you. Going off of that, one of the reasons I fell in love with setting is that you are always in the middle of the action and the ball has to go through you every play. I was drawn to the amount of action and control you have over the game as a setter.”

1. Was volleyball the number one priority for your future goal or was there another sport or anything that you wanted to do for a living

“I actually didn’t start playing volleyball seriously until grade 9. Growing up, I always wanted to be a professional soccer player. Soccer was my passion until volleyball took over in grade 9.”

Thank you for reading my Community Connections post. Hope you have liked it.

I have found all these photos on gospartans.ca and on the Instagram page of the Spartans