VANCOUVER - One of British Columbia's best high school prospects and a pair of talented recruits from Calgary are the newest additions to the UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team.

Ben Chow, a left side who starred for Fleetwood Park Secondary (Surrey, BC) and the Fraser Valley Volleyball Club (Langley, BC) joins Calgary Elite West volleyball club products Garret LaValley (left side) and Christiaan Heerema (right side) as the newest members of the T-Bird program.

Chow, who was ranked as the second best BC high school volleyball player in The Province newspaper, is an explosive athlete who has excelled both indoors and on the beach.

He led Fleetwood Park to a gold medal at the most recent BC High School Championship in addition to a silver medal at the 2008-09 tournament. Both years he was named a BC high school first-team all-star.

Most recently, he brought home MVP honours at the 2010 BC Provincial U18 Championships in Abbotsford as a member of provincial champions, FVVC Blue.

On the beach, Chow has won a national title in the U16 category, a silver at the U18 level and placed ninth at the U19 FIVB World Beach Volleyball Championship.

"Ben will be looked upon to provide consistent attacking from both the front and back court as well as the service line. He’s a phenomenal athlete who definitely has that 'wow' factor when you see him play and really reminds me of former T-Bird Steve Gotch (2008-09 CIS first-team All-Canadian)," said UBC head coach Richard Schick of the Team BC and Team Canada Youth Beach member.

"The coaching and playing experience he's received on the beach and indoor has really benefited his overall skill and knowledge of the game," added Schick about the T-Birds talented newcomer.

Both LaValley and Heerema were key members of the Calgary Elite West club that picked up a silver medal at the 2010 Alberta U18 Provincial Championship and brought home first from a US Junior Olympic event in 2009.

"Garrett is an outstanding passer and will provide our team with size on the outside both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball," said Schick of the 6-foot-4 Calgarian.

LaValley has strong family connections to UBC with both his brother (Vancouver), who rowed with the T-Birds junior varsity squad, and sister (Okanagan) attending the school. He plans to study in UBC's world famous Human Kinetics program.

Heerema was drawn to UBC's well-known Sauder School of Business and plans to study commerce once he arrives in Vancouver.

"Christiaan is an explosive athlete who plays much bigger than his frame. He will respond well to the level of training and competition at UBC and will only continue to grow as he learns about the game at a CIS level," observed Schick.

All three T-Birds will be part of their new team's trip to Korea which is scheduled for August 30 to September 13. UBC will play their traditional Korean rivals, SKK, as well as other university and professional teams during the two-week training camp.

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Ben Schach
UBC Sports Information Director
604-822-9115 (office)
604-809-1485 (cell)
604-822-6011 (fax)