CVC Chat is a weekly interview series with a player from the Continental Volleyball Conference. This week we talked with Rutgers University-Newark junior setter Kevin McCandless and how volleyball has allowed him some unique opportunities.
Athletics can mean many different things to many different people; a chance to pursue dreams, the thrill of competition, a venue to continue education; for Rutgers University-Newark junior Kevin McCandless volleyball has led him to some unique experiences including a season opening trip to Puerto Rico this year and a tour of Brazil last summer.
"Puerto Rico was an exciting trip, particularly since we have some players from Puerto Rico on our team. Although I had a dislocated pinky at the time, which made the volleyball part a bit of a letdown for me, overall the trip was great both as a volleyball experience and mini-vacation. You definitely can't complain when we got to hang out on the beach in 70-degree weather while it was freezing cold and snowing back home. We had a lot of fun down there and got to bond a lot as a team, especially with some of the new guys."
Puerto Rico was not Kevin's first forray into a new country to play volleyball. In the summer of 2014 he joined a group of NCAA Division III men's volleyball players as part of a touring team to play club teams in Brazil.
"Ron Smith of USA Sports Tours and Events puts together a team of D3 student-athletes each year to go down and play and Brazil and I was part of the team last year. The team was a great mix of guys from all over the country, representing not just some excellent players, but great students and people in general. I am incredibly grateful that we got the chance to play some international volleyball, which is something we don't all get the opportunity to pursue on our own."
Brazil offered not only new scenery but a new type of volleyball game.
"When you first start playing there it's definitely a little intimidating. There seems to be a slightly different flavor of play, with a little more emphasis on fundamentals and consistency, but when it comes down to it, it's still just volleyball. Once you get over the fact you are playing in this country where volleyball is almost a religion and they're so successful in it, you can just play the game you've always played and compete with them just like everyone else."
Kevin and his fellow D3 student-athletes faced competition from various club teams while in Brazil including an under-22 professional team.
"I was admittedly a little nervous for how well we would do. We ended up playing a nice mix of teams throughout the trip, from younger local teams to adult club teams. All of the teams we played were Brazilian so I didn't know anyone we played against, or even any of my own teammates before coming in for that matter."
Despite not knowing his competition or teammates on an international trip Kevin was able to make memories because of the passion and love of volleyball everyone shared.
"I was able to make a lot of friends and meet a lot of great new people from both countries, including fellow CVC member Joe Bortak from Juniata. It was really a once in a lifetime experience, not just because of the volleyball but because of how much fun everyone had on the trip. I wouldn't hesitate to do it again or recommend it to someone else."
Not only has volleyball taken Kevin on trips overseas but this year it has seen him and his Rutgers-Newark teammates take a trip through divisions. This marks the first year that Rutgers-Newark is competing at the NCAA Division III level.
"The transition has been great. A lot of people look at us as a D1 team coming to D3 but the fact of the matter is that for the past two years we were really a D3 team stuck competing against some of the top D1 programs in the nation. It was a learning experience and I loved every second of it. You learn so much as a player when you get to go out as the obvious underdog and just play your heart out against teams that have scholarships to bring in bigger players. I think going through that brought us closer together as a team and now we are able to take that experience and use it at the D3 level."
All of these collegiate experiences for Kevin stem from his love of the game; a game he has been around all of his life.
"Both of my older sisters played volleyball and my dad helped coach them so I was always that little brother in the gym with them at practices and tournaments. Being around it so much, I just picked up a knack for it and started to seriously pursue it when I was 10 or 11, playing for club teams and the local rec league. My dad coached my youth teams and my entire family has supported me along the way. You definitely could say it's a familiar affair and we have always joked that everything revolves around volleyball, which, to a certain extent is true."
Although volleyball surrounds Kevin and his family it is what the game offers on its own that pushes Kevin to succeed.
"I think what really draws me to volleyball is how much of a mental and team game it is. It's more about how smart you are with the ball and adapting to your opponent rather than simply overpowering them physically. What's great about that is it means any team can beat any other team; you just have to come with the right mindset and bring that passion with you, feeding off of your teammates so that together, you're greater than the sum of your parts. A volleyball team wins together and loses together, so the sport has a way of really bringing together a whole group of guys into a family. The best team isn't the one with the best players, it's the one with the players who play best next to each other, which is part of that mental game of knowing how and where to utilize each person so that they help the team."
Kevin still has the rest of his junior year and a year after that to enjoy the passion and competition of volleyball. Majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics Kevin is not sure where he will end up after graduation but he does know one thing will remain the same.
"I've never been one to really plan everything out, so we will just see where life takes me. No matter what happens though, I will absolutely continue to play volleyball and stay involved in the sport as long as I can."