Where Are They Now? Chinook High School Senior Girls Volleyball Team 2013-2014

It is impressive enough to win a championship at any level, but to win back-to-back championships is an even more challenging and significant accomplishment. In the 2013-14 school year the Chinook High School Senior Girls volleyball team did just that. Coming off of a 2012-13 4A Provincial championship where the team lost only two games the girls returned and continued one of the most dominant stretches of high school volleyball the province has ever seen; going 63-1 and winning a second consecutive provincial title. For their incredible run the team was honored as the 2013 Amateur Sports Team of the Year. Now, more than seven years after claiming their second title we had the pleasure of catching up with several of the former members of the team and its coaches.

The team’s coaches Jaime Bach and Craig Findlay coached the Chinook Coyotes Women’s Volleyball team for 9 and 4 seasons respectively. Today, both occupy positions at Winston Churchill High school; Craig Findlay as a Social Studies teacher and Jaime Bach as Vice Principal.

Carissa Kirk graduated from Chinook in 2014. She graduated from UBC with honors in May of 2020 with a degree in Marketing and a Sustainability Concentration and Economics minor. While she has been at home through the majority of the pandemic she has continued to work on digital design while searching for a job in environmental or social justice.

Sara Gillis graduated high school in 2015. She continued her volleyball career at Lethbridge College where she played on the Kodiaks from 2015-17. Even after her playing career finished in 2017 Gillis has continued to give back to the volleyball community by coaching at both Chinook High School and the Flare Volleyball Club. Sara successfully completed her diploma in Massage Therapy and currently resides in Calgary.

Kacie Bosch was a 2014 graduate. Another of several girls that continued to pursue sports after graduation: Kacie received a full-ride scholarship to play basketball at Gonzaga University. After two seasons at Gonzaga Kacie returned home to attend the University of Lethbridge where she continued to play basketball. Kacie played a leading role with the Pronghorn team for 4 seasons. She graduated with a degree in Psychology and is planning to pursue her Master's Degree in New Zealand in 2021.

A testament to the talent level of the team, Kory Cheshire joined Kacie Bosch as the second member of the team to receive a full-ride scholarship. After graduating in 2014 Kory played 6 years for the Oregon State beavers ultimately graduating with a Master's Degree. Kory’s volleyball journey doesn’t end at post-secondary. Following graduation, Cheshire went on to play professionally in Switzerland. The pandemic, unfortunately, cut her pro career short. She currently coaches and teaches at Keyano College but hasn’t entirely ruled out a return to play following the conclusion of the pandemic.

Alexa Koshman graduated in 2014. She continued to play volleyball in post-secondary; playing for the College of the Rockies Avalanche. In her second season with the Avalanche, she played a pivotal role in leading the team to its first provincial title in school history. Koshman spent 5 years as a starter with the Avalanche setting a trend as the first of many Chinook grads to go through the program. Alexa earned her degree in education from the University of Victoria. Today, she has reunited with her former coaches as she has taken up teaching and coaching at Winston Churchill High School back home in Lethbridge.

Megan Clark graduated from Chinook in 2016. She continued to play volleyball as she attended College of the Rockies, making her the second former member of the 2013/14 team to play with the Avalanche. She graduated with a degree in education in 2020 and currently teaches Grade 2-3 in Elkford BC.

Katie Keith is yet another one of the women who continued to pursue her sporting career following high school, taking the form of playing basketball at the University of Lethbridge. Katie played 5 years of Pronghorns basketball, several of them alongside high school teammate Kacie Bosch. Her playing career was capped off by being named the 2019/20 Canwest Defensive Player of the Year the first time in program history a Pronghorn had received the distinction. Currently, Keith is taking Dental Hygiene at Vancouver Island University.

Another athlete who stayed close to home following graduation: Jordie Visser played one season with the Lethbridge College Kodiaks volleyball team before transferring to the University of Lethbridge. While the University doesn’t have a varsity volleyball team she continued to play co-ed volleyball while earning her BA in Science with a Kinesiology major. Visser got married in 2020 and now lives in Edmonton, she is working on her Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology.

Jill Tataryn continues a strong tradition of the former Chinook players going on to play post-secondary in Lethbridge. Jill attended the University of Lethbridge where she moved from the volleyball court and onto the rugby pitch. Tataryn played 5 years with the Pronghorns and graduated with a degree in Finance and a minor in International Management from the Dhillon School of Business. Today Jill can be found on the west coast working for the Saanich Police Department. She is studying to take her Chartered Financial Analyst exam and in her spare time likes to enjoy BC life.

Taylor Myndio was itching to continue her learning following high school and immediately got accepted into university. After switching her major once and her minor several times she will be finishing her Environmental Science degree in 2021. While her studies took up the majority of her time and kept her from joining a varsity sports team Taylor continues to start each morning off with a workout and is always happy to scrimmage with her friends when the opportunity arises. Myndio looks forward to hopefully finding a career in resource management but always will look back fondly on her high school experience with her Chinook team.

Tannis Forbes graduated from Chinook in 2014 and has since become a Red Seal Hairstylist. Forbes is now married and is the proud mother of two children aged 1 and 3. She currently lives in Drumheller.

Last but by no means least. Little did Hailey Driscoll know that the 2013 Achievement Awards would not be the last time she would be recognized for her accomplishments. After her time with the volleyball team, Hailey graduated in 2015 and attended the University of Lethbridge. At the U of L Hailey began as a two-sport athlete being a member of the Track and Field team and the Rugby team. Following her first year, Driscoll focused exclusively on rugby for the next four years. Hailey had a remarkable playing career with the Pronghorns: making a USports appearance, winning U of L Female athlete of the year for 2020, and representing Canada at the 2019 FISU Universiade Games in Italy on the Women’s 7s team. Thanks to her stellar career as a Pronghorn Hailey made a return to the Lethbridge Sport Council Achievement Awards being named the Female Athlete of the year for 2020. Today Hailey is embarking on her next journey: attending the University of Monash in Melbourne Australia to complete her Masters in Occupational Therapy.

All told, it is probably safe to say that the 2013-14 provincial title was one of a long list of highlights for this spectacular group of young women. For the better part of the last decade, many of them have played prominent roles in their sporting communities in Lethbridge and beyond. While it is always wonderful to look back fondly on years past and achievements earned perhaps the most significant thing about these women is just how many of them have gone on to give back to their communities. With so many of these high caliber athletes passing on their knowledge to the next generation perhaps it is not unlikely that we will see another high school team rise up to meet their level of achievement in the near future.