SPORTS FLASHBACK 2006: Trevor Froese winds up standout Bison career

First falling in love with the sport of volleyball in junior high school in Mitchell, Trevor Froese parlayed skill and dedication into a standout three years with the heralded University of Manitoba Bisons men’s volleyball team.

The 22-year-old Mitchell native capped off his three years with the Bisons last month as he helped the university win the bronze medal at the CIS men’s national volleyball championships at McMaster University in Hamilton.

Froese graduated from high school at the SRSS in Steinbach in 2001. He credits the coaching he received first from Brian Gadsby in Mitchell, and then Michelle Sawatzky in his freshman year at the SRSS, and then varsity volleyball in grades 11 and 12 under Chris Koop, for giving him the tools to embark on five years of post-secondary volleyball.

After graduating from the SRSS, he suited up for two years with the highly-touted Providence College Freemen (now nicknamed Pilots), playing for coach Greg Lepp. In what he considers one of the highlights of his five-year college and university volleyball career, he helped the Freemen to a second place finish, after being ranked only 26th at the National Christian Colleges volleyball championships in Dallas.

Growing up in Mitchell, like many youngsters, Froese enjoyed participating in many sports, especially hockey. His minor hockey days were spent playing with the likes of Krister Toews, the standout goaltender for the U of M Bisons hockey team. The two are still close friends.

Froese says playing at Providence College was a great experience, as he got to play in a very competitive program, while travelling across the United States during his two-year tenure with the Freemen.

The Freemen would scrimmage against the Bisons Under-20 team each spring as the Bisons prepared for the their national championships, and it was at these scrimmages Bisons coach Garth Pischke, the former national team coach who is considered one of the top players to ever play the game, first noticed Froese.

Pischke invited Froese to join the Bisons Under-20 team that year and he helped the Bisons win the bronze medal at the National Championships in Calgary in May of 2003.

Invited to tryout for the Bisons that fall was the beginning of three memorable university years for the 6’5 Froese. Players are allowed a maximum of five years of eligibility in college and university sports.

“It was always my dream to play for the U of M and Garth Pischke; it was a great opportunity.”

Froese was a unique university player in the sense that he played three different positions for the Bisons over the three years. Froese, normally a power and left side hitter, was the Libero in his final season, a back-row defensive specialist who wears a different colored jersey and excels at passing and digging.

Pischke said Trevor meant a lot to the team, was a real leader on the court, accepting whatever role he was given.

In turn, Froese said it was great playing for Garth Pischke.

“He is very controlled, very knowledgeable and not too emotional. When he would give us pointers, we knew it was from someone who was one of the best to ever the play game.”

Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology, Froese is unsure what he will do next year. He is considering perhaps pursuing social work or maybe some opportunities playing professional volleyball in Europe.

“I am satisfied with my university volleyball career; I am ready to move on.”

Froese is currently a volunteer coach for one of the Bisons three 16 and under club teams, and will be taking that team to Calgary for the national championships in May.