York University

Nancy (Watson) Popovich’s volleyball career was all about opportunities – those that she created for others and those that she took advantage of for herself.
 
She put together a stellar career as the leader of a team that won four straight OWIAA provincial banners and earned three bronze medals at the CIAU championships, representing the best ever finish for York’s women’s volleyball team at the national tournament.
 
As a setter she was responsible for running the offence and making the rest of her teammates better, and as a result she often didn’t get the same individual recognition as the outside hitters. But her contributions to the squad went beyond individual accolades, and from the first time she stepped onto the court, she was tasked with leading the team.
 
“It was an absolutely awesome experience to develop my leadership skills as a person and a player while part of the program,” Popovich says of her time at York. “We often talk to kids about taking advantage of opportunities, and I got mine at the national championships in my first year, when a teammate was ready to be substituted and Merv gave me the nod. I never looked back after that moment.”
 
Popovich never imagined she would play collegiate volleyball, and specifically not at York. Her original plan was to go to Queen’s to study physiotherapy, and she had considered potentially trying out for the Gaels’ varsity team once she got there. But all of that changed the summer after she graduated from high school.
 
“Merv was aware of me as an athlete because my high school team played in the York Invitational, but otherwise I wasn’t recruited at all and I didn’t even apply to York. I was at a high-calibre volleyball camp the summer before university and I ran into many athletes that were already part of the women’s volleyball program at York. I became great friends with them but still intended to go to Queen’s. However, on Labour Day weekend they showed up at my house in Tweed in the middle of the night, stayed over, and after breakfast we jumped in the car and headed back to Toronto.
 
“We showed up on Merv’s doorstep the first day of school, where the other players told him they had brought me back to play for the team. We went to the admissions office after that to see if I could get in, and the rest is history. That decision was really a life-changing event, and being part of the program gave me a whole new world of opportunities.”
 
After graduating with a degree in physical education, she joined Ontario Hydro as a nuclear operator in 1985, becoming one of the first five women ever hired by the company for the position. The sport of volleyball was never far away, however, as she began coaching at a high school in Deep River on the side, and when she transferred to the Darlington nuclear plant in Bowmanville she continued coaching there as well.
 
Popovich continued to experience success as a coach and considers one of her proudest moments to be when she served as an assistant coach for the Ontario girls’ under-17 provincial team that won the national championship in 1991.
 
She ultimately switched careers and became a teacher, and continued coaching while working in her first teaching job in Madoc. She started a volleyball club in Belleville called the Quinte Cougars that was part of the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) for 12 years before she stepped down as president to spend more time with her own children. She is now the vice-principal at Bayside Secondary School in Quinte West.
 
“I loved York, and I always try and get the kids at my high school to apply to go there,” she says of her time at the University. “I was very fortunate to come to York and be a varsity student-athlete, and my husband and I would love it if our children can excel in sport and play at the university level themselves.”