RHYS VOLKENANT SIGNS WITH SPARTANS

Rhys Volkenant signs with TWU

Men's Soccer (Announcement)
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Recruit signing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RHYS VOLKENANT SIGNS WITH SPARTANS

LANGLEY, British Columbia - The CIS silver medalist Trinity Western University men's soccer program and interim head coach Mike Shearon are pleased to announce the signing of the Vancouver Whitecaps U18 select's Rhys Volkenant to play for the Spartans beginning in the 2009-2010 season.

"Rhys will make a great addition to our TWU team. He is a good student and comes from a great family," said Shearon. "Rhys has played for some great clubs and knows the game well and will most likely see significant time in our back four. He is a great signing for us because of his fit with what it means to be a Spartan."

The North Delta Secondary School Honours Roll student has been a member of a number of top level teams. His Whitecaps FC Academy Team were the 2008-2009 league champions, his Surrey United U18 Metro team were the 2008 Coastal Cup champions and placed 2nd at the 2008 Provincial Club Championships and his 2008 Whitecaps FC U18 selects team finished second at the Surf Cup in San Diego.

In 2006 his Abbotsford Metro U16 team were the Coastal Cup Champions, placed first at the Provincial Club Championships and were fourth at the National Club Championship.

The Surrey, B.C. native was also a member of the 2007-08 Whitecaps FC U17 selects Holland & Germany touring team, the 2006-2007 Delta Metro United Fraser Valley men's premier team, the 2004 Abbotsford Mariners metro U14 team and the Abbotsford Mariners U13 league team.

"I am attending TWU to continue my soccer career in the CIS and to help bring a national championship to TWU. I am also attracted to TWU as a university that combines high academic standards with a Christian worldview and feel that TWU will provide me with a great education as I pursue my undergraduate degree."

Volkenant will join fellow Spartans: brother Brayden Volkenant (Surrey, B.C.), Surrey United teammate Brandon McLean (South Delta, B.C.) and Delta Metro United teammate Garrett Traversey (Delta, B.C.) at TWU.

This fall Trinity Western will be the proud hosts of the 2009 CIS men's soccer championships. With their host position the Spartans will set a TWU school record with five straight CIS men's soccer championship appearances. The Spartans have won three national championship medals (silver in 2008 and 2006 and bronze in 2005, they were fifth in 2007), and have finished as Canada West regular season champions in 2003, 2004, and 2007. They also won three straight Canada West Championships in 2005, 2006, and 2007, before finishing with silver in 2008.

Trinity Western University, located in Langley, B.C., is a not-for-profit Christian liberal arts university enrolling over 4,000 students this year. With a broad based, liberal arts and sciences curriculum, the University offers undergraduate degrees in 41 major areas of study ranging from business, education and computer science to biology and nursing, and 17 other graduate degrees including counselling psychology, theology and administrative leadership. For more information, visit TWU's Official Athletics site at gospartans.ca.

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2009-04-10
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca