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Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference "To be Canada's premiere collegiate athletic conference by developing and inspiring leadership through excellence in academics, sport and citizenship"
Posted: May 13, 2017

ACAC Hall of Fame Inductee: Gavin Schmitt

ACAC Hall of Fame Inductee: Gavin Schmitt

Gavin Schmitt was proven to be the pivotal player when the Red Deer College Kings Volleyball team earned their eighth consecutive and final ACAC and CCAA Championship in an unprecedented run of eight consecutive Championship seasons ending 2006-07. Leading the Kings in kills and kills per game that season, Schmitt fittingly hit the last ball to win the CCAA crown that memorable March evening in Nanaimo over the host Malaspina University Mariners (now Vancouver Island University). He was deservedly recognized with several individual awards for his exceptional play that season, including selection as an ACAC All-Conference and CCAA All-Canadian team member, as well as the CCAA National Championships MVP.

After leaving RDC in 2007 and up until 2016, Gavin Schmitt was a member of Canada’sNational Men’s Volleyball Team, and was instrumental in building a program that advanced into the top ten in the world.

Highlights from his National Team career include being Canada’s leading scorer in six of seven games at the 2014 FIVB World Championships as well as being the tournament leading scorer at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

During the Pan Ams Schmitt scored a remarkable 25 points in a semi-final loss to Argentina and then duplicated that feat in the Bronze medal win over Puerto Rico. Qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio was a career highlight for Schmitt and he counts the 2016 Olympic qualification tournament in Japan as a major moment in his career with Team Canada.

“Sitting in the room with my teammates and finding out we had qualified for the Olympics is probably the most unforgettable emotional experience I have had in my playing career,” he said. 

Canada finished in 5th place in Rio– the best program result since the 1984 Olympics.

At the same time Schmitt was filling this key role with Team Canada, he was also spending the past 10 years playing top international professional volleyball in leagues located in Korea, Turkey, Russia, Brazil and Poland.

A grizzled veteran at 31 years of age now, Schmitt currently plays professionally at Rzeszów, Poland.