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August 12, 2009
Smiling on the sand - Beach volleyball National experience could translate into podium performance
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(From the Telegraph Journal - Canadaeast.com News Service)

Editor's Note: This is the 19th in a series of profiles featuring New Brunswick athletes competing at the Canada Summer Games on Prince Edward Island

The smile and carefree attitude is a cover of sorts.

Jill Blanchard is a fun-loving, happy 21-year-old woman. That's not in dispute.

However, those traits are not the ones that have made her a member of Canada's National Beach Volleyball team, an Atlantic University Sport conference all-star and one of New Brunswick's best hopes for a medal at the 2009 Canada Games in Prince Edward Island.

It's her fierce intensity and inner drive that N.B. is banking on when she steps onto the sand for the Games.

"She's intense, very intense," said University of New Brunswick women's volleyball coach John Richard. "She doesn't come across that way off the court, but don't let that fool you."

It's hard to imagine Blanchard's broad smile turning to an icy glare on the court or her laugh becoming more of a growl when a volleyball is in her vicinity.

On closer inspection, even when she's smiling and joking, her words hint at the competitive streak that lies within. Take for instance the way she describes strategy for beach volleyball.

"It's not so much about sheer power and who can hit the ball hardest like in indoor, it's about smarter shots and putting them to deep corners," Blanchard said.

So trickery and deviousness are part of her plan.

"Usually in the first seven points you can get a good idea who's the stronger player of the two, so you know who is the weaker one, the one you want to hit at and get in trouble."

Preying on weakness, a must in the sport, but not something you expect to hear from the cheery Saint John native.

Even when she was practicing with her Team Canada teammates in Toronto earlier this summer, her cunning strategy and drive to win at the Games was close to the surface. Some of her teammates will be the competition when she and Sussex native Hilary Cummings pair up on the Island.

"We'll be facing a few of them, so we had some fun words with each other before we left," Blanchard said. "I was definitely checking out their tendencies, seeing how they play.

"I was just trying to pick up on little things, so we're prepared when we face them."

A veritable smiling assassin.

Even family aren't spared. Her brother Kyle is a member of the men's squad competing at the Games.

"There's a bit of a friendly rivalry there, we both want to do better than the other," she said.

Those few moments show the sporting Mr. Hyde underneath her Dr. Jekyll veneer. For the most part, Jekyll wins out. Blanchard is humble about her accomplishments and neglects to mention most of them.

Her AUS rookie of the year award at UNB was mentioned by Richard. Same goes for her tryout with the national indoor volleyball team. The all-star appearances, the coach mentioned those too.

Even her most recent foray at the national team training camp is down played. She said she was shocked when she earned the invite in December after a try out a month earlier.

"I learned there's so much more to the game than I ever knew at the training camp," she said. "There was no better preparation than that for the (Canada) Games."

She'll start action at the Canada Games on Aug. 17. From there, it will continue all week with matches against Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.

As for the pressure of being one of the province's best chances for a medal, her Jekyll side wins out.

"I don't feel any pressure from others, it's more from myself," Blanchard said. "I just want to play at my peak and do as well as I can."

A modest reply, but one that underlies confidence in her abilities.

"She plays with emotion and she's confident in her abilities, a lot of players aren't confident enough," Richard said. "She knows what she's capable of and she demands a lot of herself and her teammates.

"She's going to be a leader on our team moving forward. As intense as she was last year, she'll expect even more of herself this year."

So which is she?

The broad smiled, quietly confident, modest star athlete or the smiling assassin picking up on her opponents every fault and weakness.

The answer is both.

And by the end of the Games, she could add another piece to her mystique - national gold medalist.

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