Roaring success JIM DAY The Guardian

Island athletes, from left, Kelly MacDonald, Mitchell Woodside and Lindsey Theuerkauf, all enjoyed the thrill of performing in front of the large and boisterous home crowds during the 2009 Canada Games. Guardian photo by Heather Taweel

Comparatively speaking, the support was seismic.
Lindsey Theuerkauf, 21, of Cornwall came into the Canada Games last week accustomed to crowds that barely outnumbered the four athletes slamming the volleyball over a net after having jockeyed into position on the sand.
The sudden roar of fans — a mix of family members, friends and a host of proud Islanders she had never met before — brought a whole new element to her sport.
While initially intimidating, the cascade of cheering was welcomed.
“For me at first I was really, really nervous,’’ she said.
“Just the thought of having everyone watch because for beach (volleyball) we never really had fans before. You’d have maybe five or six people but you’re not used to a big crowd.’’
Theuerkauf, who is heading into her fourth year of business at UPEI, teamed up with Alana Murphy, 19, of Montague to compete in front of “huge crowds’’ of 400 to 500 people at each of their matches.
Eleven-year-old brother David proved her biggest cheerleader, shouting loud and standing proud above the crowd at each match.
“He came to all the games (six in total) and he would cheer and you would always hear his voice,’’ said Theuerkauf.
Like many of her fellow 236 athletes that comprised the largest Prince Edward Island field ever assembled for a Canada Games, the 2009 summer version hosted by Theuerkauf’s home province will leave her with an experience to cherish for a lifetime.
The beach volleyball venue, she says, was awesome.
The crowds, as noted, were over the top.
And when their feet hit the sand, Theuerkauf and Murphy were ready to perform. They didn’t achieve a goal of finishing fifth — that pursuit was thwarted with an extremely close “heartbreaker’’ loss to Quebec that put the pair in the bottom six of the pack rather than the top six.
In the end, they placed eighth. Theuerkauf holds her head high in the knowledge that she and Murphy put their best foot — make that palm — forward each time they competed.
“There were no games that we got blown away,’’ she said.
“We played really well.’’
Putting the “very squished’’ accommodations at the athletes’ village in Slemon Park as well as food that was at first “awful’’ aside, overall Theuerkauf has much more cause to rave than rant about the Games.
Theuerkauf participated in the 2005 Canada Games in Regina, but as one of the younger members of the Island’s indoor volleyball team, she saw little time on the court in competition.
“It was nice to be on the team, it was awesome, but I was there more for the social aspect of it, not as much for the games,’’ she recalled.
“We were running back to the room every night for curfew to make sure we got there in time because we met so many people around and just wanted to keep talking to them.’’
She saw Jared Connaughton claim double gold for P.E.I. with winning runs in both the 100-metre and 200-metre races at the Canada Games in Regina four years ago.
“That was awesome,’’ she said.
Theuerkauf, unfortunately, missed Islanders Matthew Caseley and Kurt McCormack nab gold and bronze respectively at the track in Charlottetown Tuesday but says she can “imagine the excitement’’ over P.E.I. hauling for the first time ever two medals in a single day.
Learning of Caseley becoming the 2009 Canada Games hammer throw champion and McCormack earning a bronze medal in triple jump put an extra jump in the step of runner Kelly MacDonald, 20, of Montague.
“It was really like so exciting,’’ she said.
“It was really motivating and exciting. I was really happy for them.’’
MacDonald did not take home any medals for her efforts in the 800 metre, 1,500 metre and 4x400 metre relay. She did, however, do herself proud.
MacDonald, who is studying kinesiology at St. FX University, clocked personal best times in both the 800 metre and 1,500 metre races.
And like Theuerkauf, she has the luxury of comparing her Canada Games experience on P.E.I. with that of Regina, where she competed in the same track events as here.
“To be in front of the hometown crowd, it is so much more exciting and everybody finally gets to watch you run at such a high competition,’’ she said.
“It was like every corner that you ran around, there was somebody that was screaming your name. So it was really exciting. It got you going. It pumps you up. It makes you want to go harder, faster, and get that next girl in front of you.’’
MacDonald believes competing at home offered a special and memorable experience for all the Island athletes.
“I think for every one just being in front of P.E.I. and competing here, it has been like an awesome experience,’’ she said.
“I think a lot of great things came from it.’’
Mitchell Woodside, 19, of Clyde River was confident he would earn a spot on the Island’s indoor volleyball team for these Games.
The process took about three years but when he and his teammates got the nod early this summer, he was filled with great anticipation for the approaching 2009 Canada Games.
“I couldn’t wait to get on the court and see what the other teams’ guns were like,’’ he said.
The engineering student says he welcomed tough competition — there was no shortage — when he hit the court.
He felt he played his best volleyball when his team faced Manitoba, one of the top competitors in this sport at the Canada Games.
Woodside says he and his teammates were able to draw motivation from the hundreds of supporters that cheered on the local boys at each match.
“The crowds were fantastic… the bleachers were full, they were packed,’’ he said.
“I didn’t expect that many people.’’