Just 13 years old at the time, Olivier Tremblay proudly represented the Sudbury Sprinters at the 2022 Canadian Youth Long Track Championship in Quebec City, selected as a member of the Team Ontario speed skating delegation.

In a family flush with athleticism, the youngest of the four children had already shown signs of excelling in at least one sporting discipline. Given the success of older sisters Madeleine and Sophie on nordic ski trails locally and across the country/world, there is every reason to believe that Olivier might have followed the pathway their skis were blazing.

But neither of those sports spoke to the young man whose family has split time between Ottawa and Sudbury, though they currently call the nickel city home. Olivier Tremblay was destined to connect with volleyball, his introduction coming through his attendance at the high-school games that his brother Sebastien (seven years his elder) contested with E.S.C. Beatrice Desloges.

“With other sports, I enjoyed doing them in the moment, but I never looked forward to a practice,” said Tremblay, a key contributor with his Northern Chill Volleyball Club teams in recent years and the primary attacker with the Macdonald-Cartier Panthères squad that claimed gold at the OFSAA “A” Championship last fall.

“With this (volleyball), I couldn’t wait to get back into the gym and practice; I would be counting down the days. That’s when I realized what it’s supposed to be like.”

That epiphany grew to be during his freshman year at ESMC, also the season (2022-2023) in which he also immersed himself in the club volleyball scene.

Even as he progressed to the point of cracking provincial team rosters and earning a highly coveted invitation to a Volleyball Canada U21 Selection Camp this June in Calgary, Tremblay still maintained that very special motivation that comes from pursuing one’s passion.

“It’s not as new now – but now I am excited to get in the gym and just get better,” he said. “It’s more of a competitive thing for me now. I miss it after just three days off.”

It was one thing for Olivier Tremblay to understand his commitment to a clear-cut direction with sport in his life. It was another thing altogether to be equipped with the knowledge to comprehend exactly how elite level athletic goals can be reached, to be equipped with the type of information that so often comes from those who have been there before.

“My 16U Chill coach, Richard Faucher, he made us realize that there was a next level and that it’s possible – but that it will be really hard,” said Tremblay, sharing credit with the local man who was a member of a national championship team at the University of Saskatchewan (2003-2004) and who played professionally for teams in Denmark, France, Portugal and Austria.

“He was really hard on us, but I really liked him.”

In the echelon of volleyball at which Olivier Tremblay hopes to compete next year, the minutia of detail in technical proficiency is appreciated only by those who have a thorough understanding of all elements of volleyball skills.

“To take things to the next level, I had to get my passing down,” said the 17 year-old who has committed to the McMaster Marauders program next fall, a team which have emerged as OUA champions 12 times since 2008 – though they are currently undertaking a serious rebuild.

“When I am passing, my hip to elbow separation isn’t enough; my elbows are too close to my hips. Then I can’t move my arms as much and you don’t have as much control. You can get away with that with serves that are loopier and not as fast – but at one point, you’re going to need to get that separation because you are going to need to be more precise.”

“As a first year, you will likely be a serve receive target for other teams.”

Beyond his work with coach Faucher, Tremblay has been spending far more time recently working diligently with 18U Chill coach James Schweyer, all of this on the heels of his high-school season with Marc Savage.

Just a few minutes in conversation with the new recruit leaves little doubt as to the awareness he possesses of pretty much every single aspect of his game – and the need to continually seek improvement.

“My decision-making, offensively, needs to be faster,” said Tremblay. “You can get away with stuff in high-school but there, when I am going up to hit, I will have likely only one or two options to score – and you have a half second to pick the right option.”

Thankfully, about the only thing that Olivier Tremblay likes more than a well executed kill is are hours and hours of workouts and drills that brought him to this point.

That’s what he looks forward to the most.