Former Bobcat libero Davies gets unexpected call to play in Europe

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This article was published 17/02/2018 (2775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jeremy Davies was keeping himself in match shape at the national indoor men’s volleyball training centre in Gatineau, Que., late last month and expecting to have to wait until next season for his chance to play the sport professionally overseas.

That’s when an unexpected opportunity presented itself to the former Brandon University Bobcat libero.

Davies, 23, was offered a contract to play with Perungan Pojat — also sometimes referred to as Lakkapää — in the Lentopallon Mestaruusliiga, the 11-team Finnish elite men’s volleyball league. At first, Davies wasn’t completely on board with the idea of heading to the northern city of Rovaniemi, which is the official hometown of Santa Claus, but he’s pumped about being there.

“I was quite content with where I was and I was enjoying that a lot and didn’t really have too much expectation of finding a contract mid-season,” he said via FaceTime interview on Wednesday. “I was starting to think about next season already and then a couple of familiar people messaged me and reached out to me asking if I was wanting to go overseas.

“I didn’t really think about it too, too much and then my coach (and former national team libero Dan Lewis) said it’s hard for liberos to get out from Canada in the first place. So he basically told me to take it, take any offer and use it as just a foot in the door for further contracts.”

Davies has played two matches so far with his new club — a 3-2 (27-25, 22-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12) win over Isku and 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-18) loss to league-leading Valepa — and admitted there were butterflies in his stomach ahead of his first contest on Feb. 4.

“The hype was pretty cool. It was kind of a tamer atmosphere than I was expecting and I think that’s because they (Isku) were a below-average team and not as strong a team so it was a good match to kind of ease my way into it,” Davies said. “I was putting a whole ton of stress on myself to make a point and show the coach that he picked the right guy.

“My play was pretty average that first game, it wasn’t very good and I think that’s because I put so much stress on myself.”

“The level at the top of the league is definitely the strongest volleyball I’ve seen, especially compared to Canada West,” he continued. “The systems that we run with this club are a little different than what I was used to — both in university and at the full-time training centre — so that was one of the major things that I’ve been focusing on and just adapting to is what they want and how they run things here.”

Although the language barrier is one of the many things Davies is adjusting to, it isn’t so bad because five of his teammates are from North America — three Canadians and two Americans.

The Calgary product is playing alongside Manitobans Casey Schouten and Joshua Mckay, both of whom played with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, as well as former Trinity Western University Spartan Daniel Grant of Chetwynd, B.C.

“When I heard that there was a team in Finland that was looking to sign me I was really hesitant until I knew that Josh and Casey were here,” Davies said. “I was like, ‘That will probably be my only way I take this is … and that will make things so much easier having three other Canadians as well as two Americans on the team.’”

And while Davies misses the grind of Canada West competition and being with his former Brandon teammates, the five-foot-nine, 172-pounder, still keeps in contact with many of them as well as head coach Grant Wilson.

“I talk to those guys every day and to Grant almost every time they play,” Davies said. “I definitely miss the atmosphere of Bobcat nation and being around campus at BU and just the small tight-knit group Brandon is. Maybe one day I’ll find my way back there for a good period of time, but I’ll definitely come visit there.”

He also communicates regularly with former teammate and New Zealander Roy Ching, who signed a contract in July with SVG Luneberg in the Bundesliga, Germany’s elite professional men’s division.

Ching and Davies came to BU at the start of the 2012-13 campaign and helped the Bobcats win their only Canada West conference championship as well as a bronze medal at nationals in their rookie year. They both graduated at the end of last season, with Davies amassing 868 digs, fourth-best in Canada West history.

“I’m keeping in pretty close contact with Roy and a few other guys who are on the national team and asking how their seasons are going and what they’ve learned and what I can expect,” Davies said.

Wilson is proud of what Davies has achieved.

“I couldn’t be happier for Jer, it’s so well deserved,” Wilson said via text message. “He has been the best libero in U Sports for the last couple of years and I feel he is finally reaping the rewards. We couldn’t be more proud of where he is at.”

Davies joins Australian left side Paul Sanderson as former Bobcats to have played in the Lentopallon Mestaruusliiga.

Perungan Pojat sits sixth at 12-11 with seven regular-season matches remaining and Davies thinks a top-four finish is still a possibility.

He also hopes to parlay this opportunity into bigger and better professional things down the road.

“Hopefully just the fact that I’m out here and with the Finnish league being a noticeable league I’ll be able to be noted by other leagues and other coaches and clubs, so maybe I can make my way up to more of a higher league or a better contract before coming back to Canada for the summer and trying out for the national B team.”

Those tryouts are in May and Davies knows it would be a big achievement to make that national squad.

Davies played with former BU teammate Mason Metcalf on the Canadian men’s team at the World University Summer Games in Taipei, Taiwan in late August.

Canada finished the tournament by beating host Chinese Taipei 3-1 (25-21, 16-25, 25-17, 25-17) in the 11th-place match in what was Davies’ second time playing for his country.

He also wore the Maple Leaf at the 2013 world junior championship in Turkey.

Davies has been in Finland for only two weeks and is enjoying the experience but said it’s difficult being away from his wife Ashley, especially on Valentine’s Day. The two were married last May in Canmore, Alta.

“We’ve thought about this before and thought that this might happen eventually so maybe that made it a little easier, but it’s definitely not easy and it sucks being away from each other and so far from any family,” Davies said.

Then again it’s not too often you get to live in Santa Claus’ hometown, which is located about 800 kilometres north of Helsinki, and is only six kilometres south of the Arctic Circle and has a population of about 62,000.

“Santa Claus is a huge, huge thing here,” he added. “There’s a couple different parks, there’s Santa Claus Village a few minutes form the airport. It’s a big tourist attraction … and the team used to be called Santa Sport.”

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