With more than one hundred teams on hand for the 2025 Volleyball Canada Nationals (U15 Boys) in Edmonton earlier this month, there was certainly no shame sliding into slot #63 entering play at the three day event.

That said, exiting with an even higher ranking sure would be nice – at least in the minds of the Northern Chill U15 Norsemen.

The local lads took a big leap in that direction on day one, posting a 2-1 record with wins over the NOOKS Volleyball Club from Edmonton (25-19, 25-19) and the Ducks Volleyball Club (Coquitlam/Port Moody/Burnaby – B.C.) in a three set thriller (20-25, 25-23, 16-14).

Continuing to climb was not going to be easy once the Norsemen were re-ranked to #55 for middle day action, though they did manage to squeeze a 25-19, 25-23 victory over the Lloydminster Rustlers (a town that sits directly on the Alberta / Saskatchewan border) between losses to the Grizzlies from Newfoundland (20-25, 14-25) and the (204) Volleyball Club from Winnipeg (27-25, 17-25, 14-16).

Slotted in Tier 7 for playoff elimination day, the Sudbury squad eliminated Brandon VC (MB) 25-22, 22-25, 15-5 before falling in the bracket semi-finals, beaten 25-18, 21-25, 15-8 by Park Elite Volleyball from Sherwood Park (AB).

In the end, a ranking of 51st place on a national, a full dozen slots ahead of when they arrived out west, was more than the northern Ontario reps could have hoped for.

The Northern Chill U15 Norsemen 2024-2025 edition spotlights Budhik Sharma, Myles Mason, Miguel Gauthier, Carson Gatien, Brendan Deacon, Jack McDonald, Travis Dickie, Duncan Mullin Santone, Xavier Aubertin, Kale St-Onge, head coach James McDonald, assistant coach Alain Gauthier and team manager Sean Dickie.