Prior to high school, Reuben Veith had never played volleyball. Now, the graduating outside hitter has committed to the University of Saskatchewan Men’s volleyball program for the fall of 2025.
In an interview with the Daily Herald, Veith says two major factors for his decision were the proximity to home and the academics.
“Throughout my teenage years I realized more and more how important it was to be close to my family, the support system I’d have, so that was a huge thing for me. They have a really good team, really scrappy and I love their coach and volleyball side and the school for me just fits better with my goals and what I want. That’s just the reasons I committed to Saskatchewan.”
Veith’s first taste at playing volleyball at a high level was as a Grade 9 for Carlton. Crusader head coach Curtis Bender says Veith showed plenty of upside despite being new to the sport at the time.
“When I looked at it, we had a couple of spots available and just his size and he was actually pretty skilled for a big man and didn’t really know much about him, didn’t really hear anything. I just saw a couple of Grade 9s that really kind of piqued my interest. The size was one thing. He’s got some pretty decent skill for being a big man.”
Since first making Carlton as a Grade 9 student, Veith has also played club volleyball in Prince Albert for the Smashing Bananas program. Bender says the improvement shown by Veith in such a short period of time is remarkable.
“It’s been leaps and bounds. To be able to come in as a grade nine, he actually started for us in a provincial game when one of our middles went down and got hurt. As a grade nine, he was able to step in at provincials which is unheard of. The next year, he was one of our leaders and probably one of our go-to guys as a grade 10. Last year, he started making a name for himself and I haven’t really seen that kind of improvement from a kid. He deserves it. Just the work that he’s put in has been unbelievable.”
Veith began his high school career as a middle for the Crusaders, before eventually switching to become an outside hitter. Bender says he has seen Veith become a leader on the court during his high school career.
“As a grade nine, you’re pretty quiet. As he’s gotten older and matured more, just taking on more of a leadership role. I’ll never forget, when he was in grade 10, we had a really intense match to get into playoffs for provincials. I remember talking to him after I was like, ‘oh man, you had a really good game.’ He’s like, ‘I wasn’t going to lose.’ That’s just the mindset that he had as a Grade 10 to take the team on his back.”
Veith did not participate with the Crusaders during volleyball this season this past fall. He was chosen to participate in the men’s National Excellence Program (NEP) in Gatineau, Quebec which ran from September through December.
Veith says the experience was worthwhile and showed him what it takes to be a volleyball player at the next level.
“It was awesome, we just trained a lot and my biggest takeaway was how hard you need to work as a national level player and how much harder I should work in my schools and studies as well.”
When asked about the biggest takeaway from his experience with the NEP, Veith explained that the off-court connections made with his teammates will be something he will need to take with him heading into university next year.
“The biggest thing is the bond you’re going to have with your teammates and the type of people that you surround yourself with is going to be huge. If you’re with negative people you’re going to have a negative experience, but if you’re with positive people then you’re going to have fun and you’re going to be able to thrive.”
With the NEP running only during the first semester, Veith has returned to Carlton and will spend the second semester in Prince Albert. After spending a semester across the country, Veith says it will be special to walk the stage at graduation with his friends that he has grown up with.
“It was huge. Being with my friends, that’s the one thing you miss when you’re over there and being able to come back and do all the things you usually do and while still having that experience was great and being able to graduate with my friends is gonna be awesome.
Veith indicated he plans to study kinesiology in his undergraduate degree with future plans to apply for med school.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
