Maar represents Canada

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It’s difficult to miss his towering six-foot-seven, 230-pound frame in the David Bradley Athletic Centre. It’s also hard to miss the Volleyball Canada patch on his backpack if you ever find yourself behind him on campus.

That patch has a story to tell.

Marauder outside hitter Stephen Maar was one of 11 invited to play for Canada’s National ‘B’ Team this summer. The team consisted of younger university-aged players and older ‘A’ team players who weren’t traveling on the international circuit. He spent part of the summer training in Gatineau, Quebec, before traveling with the team from August 12-17 to Reno, Nevada, for the Pan-American Volleyball Cup.

In Gatineau, Maar trained seven days a week and sometimes three times a day. Training sometimes involved working with the National ‘A’ Team in addition to inter-squad scrimmages within the ‘B’ team. The intensity of the older players especially stood out to him.

“Even if you know you wouldn’t get a ball because it was way out of your reach, teammates would still get frustrated if you didn’t go after the ball,” Maar said.

At the Pan-Am Cup in August, Canada competed against the likes of Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, the U.S.A and Brazil. Maar didn’t start the first game against Puerto Rico, but got the starting nod in the second game against the Dominican Republic. In that game, he scored a team-high of 14 points (12 kills, two blocks).

“It was difficult to adjust to a higher training level where mistakes weren’t accepted. That training intensity is something I want to share with my teammates here.”

From that point on he did not look back.

Maar started every game after that and reached double-digits in points in each of his next four games. His best performance came in the Pan-Am Cup quarterfinals against the United States with 21 points and helped Canada to a five-set thriller victory over their cross-border rivals (27-29, 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 19-17).

“I relearned what it was like to compete at a high level internationally. I relearned how to score at that level again and fight for every single point. That was a confidence boost for me,” said Maar.

His summer experience on the international circuit stretched his game and challenged him to grow both in trainings and on game day. All of this has helped make him a better player and a teammate who is more equipped to share his knowledge with his fellow Marauders. As one of the oldest players on McMaster’s Men’s Volleyball team, Maar has the experience and platform to lead the team both on and off the court.

“I just want to be able to distribute some confidence and knowledge that I got playing for Canada. I want to be a source of that to my teammates,” Maar said.

Photo Credit: Hamilton Spectator

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