Before Morgan Hildebrandt was even a student at RJC, he was drawn to the sports teams.
When his older brother was a student, his family would come out from Saskatoon for games where Morgan had a chance to take in the atmosphere and meet other potential RJC students. “You always see the students cheering on every team and having fun,” he says. “It’s a very tight knit community and everyone’s always together and having fun.”
When Morgan started at RJC in grade 10 he found sports was a great way to build a new community on campus.
He was on the football, basketball and track teams and helped out with volleyball when they needed an extra player. “I liked hanging out with the guys and I found that my best way to connect with people was through sports,” he says. Not only did he participate in RJC sports, Morgan also played on a club volleyball team in Saskatoon. He could only be on one RJC team per season and didn’t want to give up football. But he was also interested in playing volleyball after high school and knew that being on a team in the city was his best shot.
And it paid off.
Last year, while in grade 12, Morgan started looking into options to play university volleyball and was recruited by Ambrose University in Calgary. He was open to playing anywhere, but the small community similar to RJC, drew him there. He submitted tapes, the recruiter got to watch him play in a Calgary tournament, and then he was invited for a visit and he signed that weekend. He’s been playing at Ambrose since September. When thinking about going to RJC, some students may worry that being at a smaller school might hurt their chances of going on to university athletics. But many students have been recruited by university teams either from playing on club teams while at RJC or straight from the RJC teams themselves. (See a list below of just some of the recent RJC grads who went on to play on university teams).
Playing volleyball in Saskatoon while at RJC was a big commitment. Before Morgan had his driver’s licence he took the school shuttle to Osler where his parents picked him up to drive the rest of the way. His club team had multiple practices a week in addition to his RJC teams. But Morgan is still glad he made the choice to go to RJC. He was able to get the athletic experience he needed while building a community that is hard to find anywhere else. “I have never regretted going to RJC. It was lots of fun and met a lot of super close friends.”
Short list of recent RJC grads who went on to university athletics:
