Daniel Wong was the ultimate fence sitter when it came to the Richmond Senior Boys Volleyball League championship match.
For one of the few times in the history of city high school sports, Wong found himself stuck in the middle as coach of both the McRoberts Strikers and the McMath Wildcats.
The Richmond Air Attack club coach had already committed to the Wildcats when he learned a talented Strikers team was in danger of folding unless a coach was found.
“Half my kids in club play for McMath and the other half McRoberts,” explained Wong. “It just made sense for me to do it. There is a good mutual respect between the two teams and we even practiced together at the beginning of the season.
“(The final) was definitely an interesting experience and kind of weird too.”
Wong spent the match at the Wildcats bench but it made no difference as the Strikers capped a dominating run with a 3-0 victory for their first city title in recent memory.
McRoberts didn’t drop a set all week and the province’s No. 9 ranked AA team will be favoured to nail down a B.C. berth when it hosts this week’s Lower Mainland playoff tournament.
The Wildcats had no answer for Grade 11 standout Jeff Lam and senior Edmond Lim who both delivered some thunderous kills.
“Jeff has really stepped up his game this year and has got better and better as the season has progressed,” said Wong. “Edmond is one of our Grade 12 leaders who does a great job keeping the team clam and composed too.”
Wong will be with his primarily Grade 11 Wildcat team this week at Moscrop Secondary School where it’s expected to be in a dogfight for one of four B.C. berths up for grabs at the Lower Mainland AAA tourney. Moscrop, Van Tech and David Thompson are ranked among the top 10 teams in the province, while McMath joined Gladstone as an honourable mention thanks to its strong play of late.
“For the first time in a while, the Lower Mainland is very strong for AAA schools,” added Wong. “There are five strong teams that will be fighting for four berths.”
The good news for Wong is both the AAA and AA provincial tournaments take place at the Langley Events Centre in two weeks should his teams advance.
