Pain-free, Sanders looks to regain his rhythm

Canada’s 3-0 victory against Bulgaria on Friday marked the second triumph of the team in the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, but for one player in the Canadian roster that match meant even more.

Tormented by a severe back injury since the 2018 FIVB World Championship, setter Tyler ‘TJ’ Sanders started and played in an entire match with the national team without pain for the first time in quite some time.

He had come off the bench the day before against Iran, but to see his body react so positively after such a long time has been a joy for the 29-year-old setter, who represented Canada at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“Being able to play again, it felt pretty good,” Sanders reacted. “I was a little bit tired out there but it was nice to be able to get a full match and especially to play and compete like we did.”

The setter played in the NORCECA Olympic Qualifier in Vancouver in January 2020, when Canada secured its spot at the Tokyo Olympics. But on that occasion, he saved his energy for the deciding match against Cuba. He played with some limitations and had to deal with pain after the match.

After that tournament, Sanders started working on healing his body with a variety of procedures that included physio, acupuncture, yoga and Pilates sessions, not knowing what he would be able to accomplish. The prolonged break helped and the VNL has been his only experience so far, but the first signs have been extremely encouraging.

“Right now I’ve been able to play pretty much pain-free,” he explained. “It’s basically about testing things for the Olympics and making sure I can still compete at a certain level and that technically and tactically I’m still able to keep that level. But I’m going to say I’m extremely happy with how it’s going, it’s exceeding all of my expectations.”

As the VNL continues, Sanders will have at least another ten Preliminary matches to get his rhythm back and understand how his body reacts to the intense level of competition. The setter believes, however, the tournament is very important not only for him, but for the entire roster as in a couple of months they will look to improve on their fifth-place finish at the Rio Games.

“This is an extremely important tournament not only for me but for the entire team,” he added. “The fact that we get to have 17 players and test all of them and every possible lineup and have so many matches against so many really good teams, it’s going to be crucial heading into the Olympics. To have this opportunity, it’s extremely important.”