Searching for an OK ending

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This article was published 08/12/2020 (1762 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Whenever Alicia Ogoms faced adversity growing up, her mom used to say to her “Everything will be OK in the end, and if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”

It’s a motto that’s helped Ogoms throughout her volleyball career.

The Winnipegger was a standout at St. Mary’s Academy, leading the team in attacks, kills, blocks and aces en route to the Flames winning the 2011 provincial title and Ogoms being ranked the No. 1 high school player in the province.

The middle blocker went on to play at the University of Southern California for the next four seasons and capped off her NCAA career with a Pac-12 championship and an all-American second-team nod.

But adjusting to life down south wasn’t easy.

“(The motto) was very helpful when I first got to USC. It was very overwhelming and it was obviously very challenging just because of the level of volleyball that I was going to go play. It was definitely a huge jump between high school volleyball in Manitoba to Pac-12,” Ogoms said in an interview Tuesday.

“And then I was getting homesick and the school was really demanding and I was starting, which I wasn’t expecting to be starting as a freshman, so it was just all these things and my mom was definitely telling me a lot during that first year. By the time I was a senior, it was OK, it was really good, actually… You just got to weather the storm,” said the 26-year-old.

“(The motto) was very helpful when I first got to USC. It was very overwhelming and it was obviously very challenging just because of the level of volleyball that I was going to go play.”

Ogoms is now facing a different type of storm. A third-year pro, Ogoms most recently suited up for MKS Kalisz of the Polish League before returning to Winnipeg at the beginning of the pandemic as things were heading into lockdown. Despite being one of the best middle blockers in the country and a member of the Canadian national program since 2014, Ogoms was unable to reach a deal with a club overseas to continue her pro career. With no fans in the stands, teams have less money to spend on foreign players.

“I think I just got a little bit unlucky. I’m still hopeful that something will happen soon. Usually, halfway through a season there’s a transfer period and people will get injured, or things don’t work out or coaches get fired and they want to add new players and stuff,” said Ogoms, who played for the red and white at last year’s Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.

“I’m hoping someone will want to add me soon and I can play professionally again, because it’s been kind of weird to be like ‘Oh yeah, I’m a pro volleyball player,’ but to not really be doing that. So, I’m like ‘I’m a volleyball player, I guess?’”

As she waits for that call, Ogoms is in Vancouver training with the national team. With no training permitted in Winnipeg, she made the decision to head west. While she’s thankful to have a chance to get court time, it’s been difficult trying to keep up with the constant changes to the restrictions. Currently, they’re allowed to play six on six, but masks are mandatory while playing and physical distancing between teammates is encouraged.

“I’m hoping someone will want to add me soon and I can play professionally again…”

“You have to be really flexible as you don’t really know what the next rule change is going to be and you don’t really know how much it’s going to affect us on the court and you have to kind of just roll with it… We’ve been playing for a month now with masks on and it’s actually twice as hard as a normal practice. I was kind of shocked how much harder it was,” she said.

“We did a warm-up drill to start out with and it’s pretty low intensity I would say. Normally I wouldn’t even break a sweat, but the first time we did it with a mask on I felt like we had been doing cardio for half an hour. I was dripping in sweat and out of breath.”

The national team is gearing up for the Volleyball Nations League, a tournament featuring the top 16 teams in the world that’s scheduled for May. Ogoms is keeping her fingers crossed that it will go ahead. She’s eager to compete as soon as she can, whether it’s for Canada or a professional team, even though it would likely lead to a higher chance of catching COVID-19. Ogoms hasn’t played a competitive match since February.

“I kind of think that’s the risk I’m gonna have to take to keep playing, which kind of does suck, but I want to keep playing,” she said.

“I’ve been kind of been telling myself that it’s going to be OK in the end. Obviously right now it doesn’t feel that great, but I think it’s going to be OK at some point.”

“I’m just gonna try to be as safe as I can if I do go over there… Even here in Vancouver, it’s not safe anymore. Even if I was to go home, it’s not like I’d feel safe there either. I feel like it kind of comes with life right now until we get a vaccine. I’d rather be playing volleyball for sure than not and being scared and sitting at home.”

Her parents know what it’s like to be high-level athletes. Ogoms’ mom, Laura Kwiatkowski, played basketball with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen and her dad, Joe Ogoms, played hoops with the University of Manitoba Bisons and was a pro in Europe for more than a decade. Her parents might not be able to relate to what it’s like being an athlete during a pandemic, but if there’s ever a perfect time for her mom’s motto, it’s now.

“I’ve been kind of been telling myself that it’s going to be OK in the end. Obviously right now it doesn’t feel that great, but I think it’s going to be OK at some point,” Ogoms said.

“I’m excited to keep moving forward and just hoping it’s going to be good at some point. Maybe not this year, but maybe next year.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
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Eighteen years old and still in high school, Taylor got his start with the Free Press on June 1, 2011. Well, sort of...

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