Bruno Ngueuche - Cameroon National Beach Team
Standing outside the court watching Bruno and his partner compete in their first World Tour main draw in Halifax, another athlete was overheard "how does a team from Cameroon get sponsored by some backyard beach court in Ottawa??". Well, it's actually a pretty interesting story.
A random text. It all started with a random text from one of the Deadman's Beach regulars. "Hey, I just met some guy from the Cameroon national team. He just moved to Ottawa, he heard about the court and wants to come train. I think he is playing in the Halifax FIVB event and wants to get ready for that". This text came on a Sunday and Bruno had his first session with the guys Tuesday - and he was in our sand every chance he got after that.
While this is how his story with Deadman's Beach started, Bruno's volleyball journey started long before. A late entry to the sport (soccer was his first love) Bruno didn't have his first taste of competitive volleyball until trying out and making his university team at age 21. With raw skill, determination and a healthy dose of athleticism, Bruno excelled and was named the team's captain the very next year. A gold and silver medal finish came for Bruno and his team in his last two years of eligibility.
From Cameroon University varsity athlete to the Cameroon National Beach team seems like a logical progression, but as with many things in life it wasn't a straight and narrow path for Bruno. Obenda, now Bruno's National team partner, had been living in the states for nearly a decade coaching volleyball and playing high level beach. Obenda had the itch to represent his home country in beach volleyball, dreaming of making a run for the Olympics. All he needed was a partner. He needed someone who would put in the effort, someone crazy enough to drop everything and really take a run at achieving what seems like a lofty goal. Only one person from his past came to mind, his old University teammate Bruno. Sure there might be some challenges, like Bruno still living in Cameroon and him in Maryland, or the fact that Bruno had never really played beach volleyball. Minor details. One phone call from Obenda, Bruno was in.
With his partner in the states and not much of beach scene in Cameroon, the majority of Bruno's training and learning was done on his own. Obenda would travel back to train and compete when he could. Thankfully Bruno is a quick study, winning the Cameroon beach volleyball national championship and representing Cameroon in their first world tour event in Italy. Bruno and Obenda won the right to represent Cameroon in the African continental Olympic qualifier - one giant step closer to his dream. Despite his learning and despite some early success, one thing was for certain - the distance from his partner was limiting their growth. Financial support is almost non-existent and travel to Cameroon is not easy (or cheap). Bruno thankfully had a friend in Ottawa (Cherie you are the best) who was willing to give him a place to stay and Ottawa is driving distance from Maryland - a heck of a lot closer than Cameroon. Sacrifices are made to follow your dreams, putting your life and career on hold is one thing, moving across the globe to a new country away from your family and all you know is another.
So that's how Bruno ended up in Ottawa, the closest he could get to his beach partner. Maybe it was fate or a greater plan or whatever it was that brought him to Ottawa - we are so fortunate he is here. An amazing athlete, an amazing human, and one of the hardest workers you will ever meet. Deadman's Beach is proud to be Bruno's main training home in the summer and main sponsor. Thanks to your support of Deadman's beach programming and sales of beach gear we can help fund Bruno's inspiring journey.
Eric Girard - Canadian Pro Beach Athlete
Ever watch someone jump and be like damn, wonder what it's like to be able to do that? That is how most of us at Deadman's Beach feel when we play with Eric. Watch him play, watch him move in the sand. The guy is just a born athlete. No surprise while most of us were watching Saturday morning cartoons, Eric was competing for team Canada in Karate. And winning too.
Stellar varsity volleyball career, no shocker. A year with the Canadian National Indoor Full-Time Training Centre, yup. Pro volleyball contracts in Spain and Sweden. Of course. It's already been said, this dude was born to play. If you have seen him on the court, none of this would come as a surprise. What may be a bit of a surprise for a now professional beach player, the world of beach volleyball is pretty new for Eric.
Winning the Deadman's Beach "King of the Beach" invitational may not be on your bucket list (maybe it should be), but it may turn out to be one of Eric's more memorable wins. There is a story here, let's rewind it just a bit. After Eric got his taste of pro volleyball, now back in Ottawa, settling down and starting to build his non-volleyball career. Still playing volleyball when he could, Eric was well known to many of the OG Deadman's crew. Naturally, when summer rolled around he wanted to join in on the action. Despite his impressive volleyball resume, beach volleyball wasn't something Eric had never really trained for or competed in at a high level. But its safe to say, playing with the crew, Eric reignited his passion - just this time it was with sand between his toes.
The more Eric played, the more he separated himself from the rest of us. If you followed along on the Deadman's Beach early days via Instagram, you probably saw a few of his highlights and noticed if there were any tournaments - most often it was Eric at the top. It was after a particular win and subsequent post on Insta that Eric's journey changed. "How is Eric G looking? Should he be coming to the next Gen tryout?". That is the note we got from the head coach of the Team Canada Next Gen beach team shortly after. I mean, yeah he absolutely should come. But he just got married, settling down as a husband, building up as a realtor and all-time dog dad. So will he? Hell yeah he will. He will come, he will make it - and that he did.
Now, are we saying that if you come play at Deadman's Beach you will get recruited for the National team? Well we do have at least one reason to say it's a possibility - so get down here. Come train, come compete, but most importantly - know that any way you support Deadman's beach, you are directly supporting an amazing athlete and an even better human in Eric Girard.
Adriel goodman and Devin corah - canadian pro beach Athletes
Adriel and Dev have a lot in common; both growing up in small town western Canada, both having successful indoor careers and both being crazy athletic. But beyond that, they both play to inspire. They have big dreams themselves of course (Olympics 2028, lets go!), but they want their journey and passion for the sport to inspire the dreams of others as well.
Adriel and Dev have developed the Finding Our Beach brand as a way to take people along on their unconventional journey. They are passionate athletes trying to go as far as they can on a very limited budget, which sometimes means sleeping in airports, taking trains and busses across countries, making friends wherever they go and staying with them instead of hotels. They want to encourage young girls to be brave and chase their own dreams. To not be afraid to stand out, to do what you love, be brave and be ok just figuring it out as you go along. Having come from small towns where people typically do not become professional athletes or even world travellers, they want to increase awareness on how accessible the world can be when you embrace adventure and taking chances. They want to inspire others to Find Their Beach!
So how are these two connected with Deadman's Beach you may be asking. Well, its sort of a friend of a friend type story, but isn't that how all the best stories go? Ben, a Deadman's Beach regular and all around great guy played at the same school as Adriel many years ago. Following along with her and Dev's journey he saw some symmetry, maybe a chance to work together. He knew that the goal of Finding Our Beach was to inspire and that one of our goals is to help people be inspired. He also knew that as professional beach athletes, they need support. And that one of our main goals, is to find ways to support these athletes - so they can continue their journey and continue to inspire.
100% of the profits from the Finding Our Beach collaboration go directly to supporting Adriel and Dev on their amazing journey.