Athlete Recovers Love For Volleyball at CMU

After bad experience with a coach, Kalon Bergen thought she'd never play again

Vaughn Rempel Snider and Kalon Bergen: Never played on a team where she felt so supported by coaches and teammates.

Volleyball was Kalon Bergen’s life as a high school student. She lived and breathed it. She couldn’t wait to get on the court to play again. But then a bad experience with a critical coach killed her love for the game. The Beausejour, Manitoba resident thought she’d never play competitive volleyball again.

Today Bergen has recovered her joy for sport and is a key member of the CMU women’s volleyball team. “Coming to CMU was pivotal for me,” she says. “It was a real turning point.”

The bad experience with the coach occurred when she joined a club team in Winnipeg while in grade 11. “He constantly criticized me,” she recalls noting that some people respond well to that kind of coaching style. “But I didn’t. I got worse. My confidence was shattered.”

After grade 12, she thought she’d never play competitive volleyball again. But CMU women’s volleyball coach Vaughn Rempel Snider saw something special in Bergen. “I knew she was struggling, but I also knew she was a very good player,” she says.

When Bergen graduated in 2005, Rempel Snider offered her a scholarship to play at CMU. “I really believed CMU was a place she could not only improve as a player, but also be at a place where she could be part of a supportive community,” she says.

Bergen declined, deciding to take a year off school. But Rempel Snider stayed in touch; last year Bergen enrolled at the university. It turned out to be one of the best decisions she ever made.

“It was a great year,” she recalls of the 2006 season. “I had never played on a team where I felt so supported by my coaches and team mates. I recovered my enthusiasm for the game.”

Her enthusiasm showed in her play. She was named a first team Central Plains Athletic Conference (CPAC) All-Star and was named both the team MVP and the CMU Female Rookie of the Year.

Bergen credits her coaches, team mates and CMU’s sports philosophy for the turnaround. “It was great to have coaches who told me how good I was doing, and how important I was to the team,” she says. “They were really inspiring. They saw my potential, and helped me bring it out as a player without tearing me down.”

But CMU’s emphasis on maintaining a close relationship with God was also instrumental to her success, she says.

“Faith plays a big role in sports here at CMU,” says Bergen, who attends Winnipeg’s Riverwood Community Church. “We’re always reminded that God should be in every aspect of our lives, including volleyball.”

In particular, she appreciates how CMU encourages athletes to keep sports in perspective with the rest of life. “I realized that life wasn’t just about volleyball—it was about other things, too,” she says. “I developed a more balanced approach to sport.”

Bergen eventually wants to go into nursing, but is back at CMU for another year. But this time, instead of being a shy and nervous rookie, she is one of the team’s leaders. “God gave me a gift for playing volleyball,” she says. “I want to use it and enjoy it for as long as I can.”

Posted November 3, 2007