Sanders in an uphill battle to be ready for Tokyo
CALGARY, Canada, May 5, 2020 – Tyler Sanders has helped Canada
to qualify for the Olympics in Tokyo, but the journey towards
his second appearance at the Games includes dealing with
physical issues related to a partial spine fracture he suffered
during his childhood. The 28-year-old setter is working his way
back to the courts and hoping for good news in the near future.
Sanders has been a consistent contributor with the country’s
national team, helping the Canadians to win bronze medals at the
2017 FIVB Volleyball World League and the 2015 Pan-American
Games, to finish fifth at the Rio 2016 Olympics and to top the
2015 NORCECA Championships.
His career has also taken off at the club level as the setter
has won national titles in Switzerland and Poland, two of the
four countries he has played in, but it all started to change
during the 2018 FIVB Volleyball World Championships, when his
back only allowed him to appear in a few sets in the team’s
campaign.
The delicate situation of his body doesn’t stop Sanders from
dreaming about the Games, but he approaches the future with
caution.
“When I was younger I used to make plans and schedule things and
have dreams and pursue those dreams,” he said in a live Instagram
session hosted by the Canadian Volleyball Federation. “With my
injury, it’s been different, it’s more of a day-to-day kind of
thing. I definitely have the ambition of going to Tokyo and
winning a medal, but beyond that I’m not really sure. I hope my
career isn’t over and I’ll keep trying things, but the reality
of my injury is that there’s no remedy for it, it’s a very
long-term thing. I have to keep my quality of life in the back
of my mind when I make a decision and playing at the highest
level puts a lot of burden on my body as I have a compromised
spine.”
His physical condition meant Sanders cut the 2019-2020 club
season short after just three months, ending his contract with
Poland’s MKS Bedzin.
Because of the injury, Sanders wasn’t able to play with his
national team for the Tokyo Volleyball Qualification tournament
played in China, when Canada finished second. But he was called
up by coach Glenn Hoag for the NORCECA Olympic qualifier, in
January 2020, in Vancouver, the last opportunity for the North
Americans to secure their spot at the Games.
His condition was still far from ideal and the setter sat out
the first two matches, saving his energy for the third and
decisive game, which ended up being a five-set battle against
Cuba. Sanders had to take several measures to protect his body,
including avoiding jumping when possible and stand-serving for
the first time in several years.
“That match was really getting into my mind because I hadn’t
been able to play until then, I hadn’t played in China and I was
feeling bad I wasn’t helping the team,” he recalled. “We had the
luck of starting that third set on fire and afterwards, it just
felt we were playing really well. I was obviously excited we
were on the way to take the match to five sets, but also worried
if my body would hold it, so there were a lot of different
emotions and thoughts going on at the same time.”
His rehab routine in Calgary includes physio, acupuncture, yoga
and Pilates sessions, which help to alleviate the inflammation
in his back. The postponement of the Games to the summer of 2021
has given Sanders more time to get his body right, but at the
same time it has also expanded the window in which he’ll be
susceptible to having to deal with problems.
“I see it as a two-sided thing,” he explained. “I need to be
very meticulous with my back and the Games being delayed a year
gives me more time to do that without rushing anything. I can
really focus on making sure that my body is released in a
certain way. But with a long-term major injury there’s always
the risk of a setback. I’m more relaxed by the fact that there’s
an extra year and that I can take good care of my body, but who
knows what’s going to happen during this preparation phase,
which is now longer? |