Yavasgel invites mom to watch final matches

Behlul Yavasgel has put in his time for the TRU WolfPack men’s volleyball team.

For five years, Yavasgel, a 6-foot-4 Turk, has been among the hardest-working players on head coach Pat Hennelly’s WolfPack.

And knowing that his university career was coming to an end, Yavasgel worked even harder to raise money to give his mother a nice birthday gift — a plane ticket to Kamloops to watch the CIS championship.

When the WolfPack opens the eight-team tournament Friday, 6 p.m., against the Alberta Golden Bears, Aynur Yavasgel will get the chance to watch her son play live for the first time in six years.

“It was a gift for her,” said Behlul, who picked up Aynur in Vancouver on Monday. “I said, ‘Hey Mom, it’s your birthday, here’s your gift.’ I was working pretty much every day, three or four hours to get the ticket.”

The last time Aynur saw Behlul play was in 2004, before he had even heard of the WolfPack or Kamloops. Behlul was with the Turkish junior national team at the time.

Behlul wanted Aynur to be here for nationals — it will be the last weekend of CIS play for Behlul, whose eligibility will expire after the tournament. It might be his last weekend of competitive volleyball, period.

But getting someone from Istanbul to Kamloops isn’t easy . . . or cheap.

Knowing this, Behlul started to raise a little cash at the start of the season — when he wasn’t going to school, playing, practising or training for volleyball, he was working sports camps to help pay for a ticket.

Now, he’s more than a little excited to have his mom in the stands this weekend.

“It’s a different experience . . . and I’m really excited about it,” Behlul said. “She’s going to see everyone and the atmosphere — 1,000 people watching the games. It’s going to be crazy.”

Yavasgel is the WolfPack’s first five-year graduate since entering the CIS in 2005-06, and there really isn’t a better player to have make history for TRU’s most successful team.

He has been almost everything to the WolfPack — he started as an outside hitter, and has spent time at middle and libero this season. He also has been a warrior, playing through more injuries than he can count, including the dislocation of his left shoulder five times and a broken thumb.

“It’s tough, because we don’t have much time to recover,” Yavasgel said. “The thing is — you get injured, you heal up. It’s all mental. If you believe in something, you’ll do it — that’s my theory.”

When Yavasgel came to Kamloops, he knew barely a word of English and didn’t know a soul.

In the five years since, he has picked up the language, two Canada West bronze medals and a CIS bronze medal. He also has acquired his diploma in computer systems management and operations, and hopes to get a job in Canada.

“After Sunday, that’s going to be my focus,” Yavasgel said. “I have to find a job in Canada — I would like to stay in Kamloops.”

Looking back, Yavasgel remembers not the injuries or the struggles to learn a new language, but the successes the WolfPack has had over the last three seasons.

Yavasgel helped the men’s volleyball team clinch TRU’s first Canada West playoff berth in 2006-07, then helped the WolfPack into the CIS tournament for the first time in 2007-08.

It was there — in Laval in 2007-08 — that Yavasgel enjoyed his favourite memory. TRU was up against the host Rouge et Or in the first match, and won in four sets (24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23) in front of 3,500 hostile fans.

Yavasgel had seven kills in the match, after which Hennelly said: “Behlul came up with some absolutely clutch kills. Probably half of his kills came after 22 points — it was unbelievable.”

It’s a match Yavasgel won’t soon forget.

“There were 3,500 people watching the game in their (gym),” he said. “That was the first time playing at nationals — it was great.”

Of course, there’s still a chance for another memory . . .

“My best memory’s going to be Sunday, when we win nationals . . . if we do,” he said.

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The WolfPack women’s soccer team will be conducting a benefit soccer clinic, March 28 at Hillside Stadium.

The clinic will raise money for the CIBC Run for the Cure. This is the second year the WolfPack has put on the clinic, which is for players in the under-6 to under-14 age groups.

WolfPack players will be running the clinic, which will be divided into two groups — U6 to U10, and U11 to U14.

To sign up, get in touch with Larry at lread@tru.ca or 250-377-6117.

mhunter@kamloopsnews.ca

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