MARTINS TO RETURN TO NIAGARA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL PROGRAM

The Niagara College Department of Athletics & Recreation is pleased to announce the contract renewal of Joey Martins as the head coach of the Niagara College women's volleyball program.

Martins joined the Knights in 2011 and in his first season with the program he led the team to a record of 10-8 and was named 2011-12 OCAA West Division Coach of the Year. During the 2012-13 season Martins led a rebuilding Knights team to a record of 8-10.

Niagara College Manager of Athletics & Recreation Matthew Davies commented "Coach Martins is a very promising volleyball coach in the OCAA, and we are happy to have him back at the helm of our women's volleyball program. He understands the holistic student-athlete experience, having his student-athletes very involved in community initiatives this past season. We look forward to supporting him as he works towards establishing the Knights as perennial OCAA contenders."

A native of Burlington, Ont., Martins enjoyed a dominant career as a player in the CCAA. Martins was a four-time CCAA All-Canadian, won two OCAA championships with the Loyalist Lancers, and two CCAA national championships with the Red Deer Kings. Martins was also a member of the
volleyball Canadian senior men's national team.

"I am very excited and proud to be returning to the Niagara College women's volleyball program. The opportunity to build and enhance the overall student-athlete experience through increased community involvement and building the program into a provincial and national contender is something I look forward to," said Coach Martins.

The Knights will return several key players for the 2013-14 season including leading scorer Jenna Bray and second year outside hitter Alex Botelho.

Martins added "I'm confident heading into September. We have a good core group of returning student-athletes, and over the next few weeks as we finalize our recruiting process we will have several quality players coming in that are ready to work hard both on and off the court."

In addition to coaching at the post-secondary level, Coach Martins feels "it is really important whenever possible to help develop and coach volleyball at the grassroots level." Martins is actively involved with the Burlington Blaze girl's volleyball club, and in the coming months is looking to develop an in-depth relationship with the Niagara Rapids volleyball club.

This summer will see the Niagara College women's volleyball program participate in the annual NC Kids' College summer camp program. The team will help lead two sessions of the summer camp program from August 12-16 and August 19-23.

Source: Niagara College