Hansen-Young ready for battle at Canada Games

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This article was published 14/08/2025 (264 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jersey Hansen-Young has put in the hours, and now she’s ready to show what she’s made of on a national stage.

The University of Manitoba Bisons commit for the 2025-26 Canada West women’s volleyball season has pushed herself on and off the court in hopes of leaving her mark with Team Manitoba at the Canada Summer Games in St. John’s, N.L.

The six-foot outside hitter from Brandon has spent the past several months training five days a week, alongside two to three strength and conditioning sessions each week — all in preparation for what will be the highest level of competition she’s faced to date.

“I’m really excited to go and to experience that even higher level of volleyball,” said Hansen-Young. “We’ve been training pretty hard to get prepared for these games, and it’s been a really cool experience getting to practice at that intensity to prepare for such a big event.”

Hansen-Young will get her first taste of Games action with Manitoba on Tuesday when it faces New Brunswick, followed by a match with Quebec on Wednesday and then Saskatchewan on Thursday. She said Manitoba’s players are all quite familiar with one another, as many of them competed against each other in both high school and club play.

One of the most notable foes turned friends is Anna Filippin-Buller, who went head-to-head with Hansen-Young during the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association provincial championship with the College Jeanne-Sauve Olympiens.

Team Toba’s overall roster may be a little light in the experience department since Hansen-Young is one of just four 18-year-olds on the squad, but her winning pedigree can’t be ignored.

This year, Hansen-Young was named Volleyball Manitoba’s 18U player of the year and was also named the MVP of her Vincent Massey Vikings squad last year after leading them to a AAAA provincial title. She’s confident her team has the ingredients for a winning recipe in St. John’s.

“We’re a pretty strong team all around, we don’t really have any specific weaknesses,” Hansen-Young said. “When we’re playing and when we’re on our game, I think we do everything well — we can serve, we can pass, we can attack, and we can block.

“We obviously want to go in and win, that’s always the expectation. I think if we go in and give it our best, I think we have a shot of going and performing very well. We are going into every game with the mentality of giving it our all and just playing the game we know how to play.”

And Hansen-Young is well aware reaching that peak level of performance is dependent on chemistry off the court just as much as on the court.

“Being connected as a team, like one big family, is one of the most important things when it comes to team sports. With our team, that’s one of our strengths, we all are really close on and off the court. That’s really going to help us when we get to games,” she said. “That’s how you win. Having a team that’s also a family.”

She looks forward to seeing how her younger teammates learn to adapt to the big stage, adding her levelheaded nature on the court in intense moments may help the team’s morale on the court in all situations, regardless of if they are ahead or not.

“What I pride myself on is just staying levelheaded and staying calm and controlled on the court and not letting how the game’s going dictate how I’m acting,” she said. “Obviously, it is a lot of pressure going and being under a microscope in front of everybody in these big games, but to me, it doesn’t really change the game.

“It doesn’t matter if there are many people watching or if it’s in our high school gym, volleyball is volleyball, and I just go out there and play like I know how to play. I don’t really think about the crowd or how everybody’s watching.”

The only province Manitoba has faced prior to the Games is Quebec, whom they defeated three sets to nothing during the Canada Cup in July. Hansen-Young said she’s excited to face off against teams outside of the province and represent not only Manitoba but also the city of Brandon.

“It’s super cool to get to go and play against the other teams and represent the rural communities in Manitoba because we are a pretty Winnipeg-heavy team,” said Hansen-Young. “It will be nice to show that it’s not just Winnipeg, it’s everybody, and it’s all of Manitoba represented.”

Once the Games wrap up, Hansen-Young will look toward her freshman season with the Bisons, playing under coach Ken Bentley and alongside Team Toba teammate Julia Martens.

“It’s such a cool opportunity to get to be a part of that program and one of the best teams in the country.”

» mdelucataronno@brandonsun.com