‘I’m not done playing volleyball’

The whirlwind ride Kristina Fabris has enjoyed is not one she is willing to disembark just yet. The 24-year-old graduate of Lo-Ellen Park Secondary has returned to Europe for a third season of professional volleyball, a stint which will see her call Linz-Steg, Austria home for the winter.

It’s been quite a journey for the daughter of Lucio and Judy Fabris and the middle of five athletic children in the family. While Kristina was, much like her siblings, involved in a variety of different sporting endeavours in her youth, she said she owes a great deal to one sport in particular that became the foundation of her evolution as an athlete.

“Gymnastics – that helped me so much in all my other sports in terms of body awareness and co-ordination,” Fabris said. “I’ve always told people that I would put my child in gymnastics, male or female, for two or three years.”

Ironically, volleyball didn’t really come into the picture until Grade 11, after a couple of years of participating in “a million and one sports.”

That year, she dropped basketball and trained with the Lo-Ellen Knights senior boys volleyball team through the fall, eventually leading her girls team to an OFSAA championship.

After playing junior for one year, Fabris developed for her final three campaigns under the tutelage of long-time Lo-Ellen mentor Tom Sutton.

“Tom was always very encouraging and he never put a ceiling on my potential,” Fabris said. “He always wanted you to grow. He made you believe that you had potential and that you were going somewhere.”

And that she did, albeit much to her surprise, at least initially.

“At first, I didn’t think that getting a scholarship was even a possibility,” Fabris said. “All the recruiting letters seemed surreal.”

Eventually, the 5-11 athlete narrowed her choices down to Ohio State and the University of South Florida (USF), with the decision proving much easier than expected.

“People would tell me that you just have a gut feeling, that you will know which one was the right one,” she said. “South Florida was a newer university, heading in the right direction. I knew that I could go to USF and be the person that I wanted to become, both on and off the court.”

Splitting time between middle, right side and power positions during her career with the Knights, Fabris followed that same trend at the post-secondary level.

“Going from middle to right side was an easy transition, because we played a very quick offense on the right side,” she said.

“Going to the left side was quite an adjustment, because you become a primary passer and you’re getting high balls, and the balls that nobody else wants,” Fabris added with a laugh.

Her four years at South Florida provided Fabris with a bevy of incredible experiences, but not without a few valleys along the way.

“During the challenging times, it was my family that continued to support me and encourage me,” she said. “They instilled those values that an obstacle is simply an obstacle — you’re going to get over it and you’re going to be better because of it.”

At no time did her growth as a person and an athlete hit home more than during her final senior luncheon, an event that coincides with parents’ weekend at the school.

“To hear the girls talk about how I affected them, that was the most rewarding thing that anyone could say,” Fabris said. “That was a complete honour.”

Through her time in Tampa Bay, Fabris contemplated taking a kick at the professional volleyball scene. If there was any doubt that her involvement in volleyball would continue, it was all but erased by the time she hit graduation.

“I realized in my senior season that ‘I’m not done playing volleyball, I just can’t give this up and go to a nine to five job right now.’”

Already holding an undergraduate degree in exercise sciences, Fabris is now pursuing a masters, via correspondence, in public health.

The young lady, who still holds a number of school records at USF, headed to Finland in 2008, moving to the Middle European Volleyball Zonal Association last fall as a member of the team in Klagenfurt, Austria.

Mix in a summer with the Canadian National team, competing at the FISU Games last summer and spending six months training in Winnipeg, one senses that this journey is not done yet.

“I could see myself playing for a few more years,” she said.

And she will undoubtedly have plenty more stories to share of her journey along the way.

Randy Pascal is the founder of SudburySports.com and a contributing sports editor for Northern Life.