For Manitoba volleyball players Kai Toney (Winnipeg), and twin brothers Gavin and Eli Ulrich (East St. Paul), the Games have been loud, quiet, humbling, energizing — and sometimes a bit surprising.

“I think it was on the very first day I got here, everyone was telling me pin trading was kind of  hype, and I wasn't big on it. I came to the Games thinking, ‘Let's be serious,’” said Kai. “And then at night there was I think every single person, the entire village was just outside pin trading, I was like, wow, this is a lot more serious than it is. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and anything you can take from it, keep it.”

That sense of awe hit all three athletes at different times. For Eli, it was during the first serve.

“I would honestly say the first serve just seeing everything come together, all of the support, the volunteers, and the well-deserved hype was pretty cool. Listening to the national anthem, is when you get to really take everything in.”

Gavin added, “The farther the Games go, the more I'm trying to take advantage of everything that I get here.I really want to seize this moment.”

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Focus, Mindset, and Managing Emotions

Each athlete brought a focused mindset to the tournament. Gavin came in with a leadership lens: “I want to put my focus more on the team as a leader, so I'm trying to help our whole receive, like setting where we want to, and taking the pre-serve reads.” 

For Eli, the goal was sharper offensive thinking: “These are the best amateur athletes in Canada. So, you're not really going to get any easy points.”

Beyond tactics, there’s been a deeper layer of learning — about performance, pressure, and pacing.

“I've learned that the energy swings are very crucial to games,” said Eli. “It can be so positive, like the emotions in your body when things are going well, things can just take off, but also on the flip side, it can be very defeating to have a couple of points stack up on you, and then the crowd's into it, and they're flowing. So just the management of energy and energy swings has been a big learning point.”

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Team Toba Pride

And you feel that energy on a whole other level when wearing Team Manitoba’s jersey.

“Well, I will say the first time I put it on I got a rush a little bit,” said Gavin. “And I still get the same thing every time that anthem goes on and I'm wearing my Team Toba jersey, it's pride.”

For Kai, it’s been a long-awaited full-circle moment. “When I was 16 I remember watching the A team thinking it'd be super cool. They won gold at Canada Cup at the time. And then at the Canada Cup tournament we got to be at, I got to wear the exact same jersey with the exact same coach, winning the exact same gold medals - it was a great experience. So now at Canada Games I love it.”

There’s a lot to take away from an experience like this - friends and pins - but it’s also about personal development and growth. 

“I'm not a huge recovery guy,” said Kai. “Like, I'll stretch a little bit but, no, after we played Ontario, I was like, wow, I need to, you know, stretch out, I need to roll out, I need to sit down. So, definitely recovery is something I’ve learned more about here.”

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Taking Their Own Advice

When asked about advice they’d give themselves if they could go back in time to when the Games first started, they were able to see the bigger picture and recognize the value of this experience as a whole. 

“I would say leave it all out there,” said Kai. “I think a lot of people on my team and me, especially, sometimes get a little outcome based. I think that Canada Games is more a full experience so I'd hype myself up in the way of saying every single game go out there and play hardest regardless of the win or lose.”

Eli reflected on his changing role. “Be ready for everything. I've taken a role where I'm not quite in the spotlight, but in my game an hour ago, I was starting and playing two sets.”

And Gavin brought a quote from Alabama football coach Nick Saban. 

“You wake up in the morning, nobody owes you anything. If you don't have detailed execution or you don't focus, you know, you'll get nothing. So I always say this to our team — we’ve got to go out and do something. You can't just sit around because nobody owes you anything.”

That attitude helped push Team Manitoba to their first win — a big emotional lift.

“We got our first win. Big monkey off our back, so I'm just proud of the guys for today,” Gavin added. 

Through it all, each athlete has brought a different type of energy to this team - one they’ll remember playing on for the rest of their lives. 

“I'm going to say calm,” said Kai. “I think that a lot of guys are trying to be ‘rah rah’ but I'm not that type of guy. I'm the one that's kind of just, you know, next ball, we're all good, get to the next point.”

“I try to stay uplifting,” added Gavin. 

“I would honestly say I'm more of a locker room guy. I like bringing the guys together and making sure games are loose, making sure everything's okay, we're all having fun,” said Eli “I think we have one of the best team dynamics out there and I pride myself in that.”