A Journal tradition like no other, where we reminisce and share our favourite interview moments.
Our first one is from Men’s Football Quarterback Alex Vreeken, Kin ’26, explaining a situation involving one of his teammates at a cottage.
“He thinks there’s a stick out in front of him, so he reaches out to grab it, but it’s actually a water snake, so he screams and throws it. Meanwhile, I’m swimming and pop my head up, and this thing lands right in front of my face, so I’m freaking out.”
—Alex Vreeken’s water snake catastrophe.
“I will say this on the record, the OUA struggles putting out schedules and sometimes doesn’t get it right.”
—Women’s soccer head coach Dave McDowell on how the back-to-backs affect the way he manages minutes.
“We are trying to play as fast as we’ve ever played before. We’ve built on the concepts from last year and I’m just excited to see how we’re able to come out and hit the ground running.”
—Women’s rugby Head Coach Dan Valley laying out the expectations for fans about his team before they sprinted to an OUA Championship.
“There’s no other place like the ARC, especially when it’s packed, and the student body and the fans are our six player on the court.”
—Women’s Basketball coach Claire Meadows on how important the ARC is for her team before their undefeated regular season at home.
“An athlete to watch that maybe hasn’t seen the court a ton [in previous years] is Abigail McAlpine.”
—Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Shanice Marcelle, talking about graduating opposite McAlpine, who has a monster year being in several OUA offensive stats.
“It’s a very prestigious trophy, it’s like 50 pounds, to win it, you can’t explain it really. We have been building to this and I’m grateful for everyone involved.”
—Men’s Head Coach Steve Snyder reflecting on the Yates Cup.
“Be good today, deal with the game or practice in front of you, be great at those things and the players will be able to play at the best of their ability.”
—Men’s Head Coach Stephan Barrie explaining his team’s mindset during the season and into the playoffs.
“Every time they’re out there running with the brutal wind coming off Lake Ontario and the water was going upwards, the wind was so bad, but he’s doing the work, no complaining, and I thought to myself, yeah this kid’s tough.”
—Cross Country coach Mark Bomba on first year Andrew Neal’s experience running on a windy day in Kingston.
“My ability to keep a clear head when things get tight allows me to have good messaging to the athletes when their emotions are high. I think I’m able to present a calm and collected approach for them to rely on.”
—Men’s volleyball head coach Gabe Degroot give diplomatic answer when asked how he’s able to stay so calm during the game.
“I use the word all the time, and it follows me around, it’s delusional confidence, I don’t care who we play, bring it on. I don’t think, I expect to win.”
—Men’s Hockey head coach Brett Gibson before their Cinderella run to the National Championship.
“You’re in the middle of a race, and you’re hurting, but that one side of your brain is saying, well, this is the last time you’re gonna hurt like this. Eight minutes of pain for a lifetime of memories is very much worth it.”
—Jude Wheeler-Dee on his mindset during his race to help fuel him to victory.
Lastly, Reed Venning’s ArtSci ’26, honest opinion of Windsor.
“Right now I’m looking across into Detroit, and its not the prettiest view but maybe if we ventured out a bit more but I can’t say too much about Windsor, if I’m being honest.”
—Reed Venning being in Windsor for the fourth time in as many months.
Tags
Interview, journal staff, quotes, staff picks
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.