Mark Burik (00:00.268)
Hey guys, Coach Matt here. Thanks for tuning in again this week. This week we have Sophie Bukovec from Team Canada who just played in the Paris Olympics. It was a treat. It was so fun to just sit and chat with her and hear about the cool stories and the wild, wild run that they had to qualify in the Olympics and all that she went through to make that happen. And then she also shares about some
fun stories while at the Olympics and then also what's next for her. So you guys, thank you for tuning in. I hope you guys enjoy this conversation as much as I did. those of you, obviously we've never met before. Nice to meet you. I'm Matt Hazel. I work with Better Beach and whatnot. But Sophie, just give us a rundown of who you are and just anything and everything about you. boy, how much time do we have? No, I'm just kidding. got as much time as you need.
Hi, I'm Sophie. I'm a professional beach volleyball player for Team Canada. I'm now a 2024 Olympian, which I feel like is crazy to say. I am a 2022 World Championship silver medalist, an under 21 World Championship gold medalist, three time national champion at USC. And I was actually the first ever full time beach volleyball athlete in Canada, funny enough. So
Yeah, that's kind of a short synopsis. I played indoor as well. I played at Long Beach State for a semester. I played a year in Canada as well in my first year. So that's kind of a brief rundown of my like volleyball career in a short summary. That is so sick. Okay, so when did you start representing Canada? I was quite young. I went to quite a few of the under youth world championships. I started when I was 16.
15, 16 years old. Yeah. So I was quite young when I started representing Canada. but during that time I was also playing indoor and I was also a high performance soccer player at that time. So I was on route to join our junior national soccer team and then just decided to switch over and prioritize volleyball and was a full-time volleyball player around 16 years old. She seems like it was a good move for you. girls that I played soccer with have two Olympic medals, a gold and a bronze. So I don't know, but.
Mark Burik (02:21.762)
Yeah, that is true. That is true. They performed really well this past year. I guess, that the FIFA World Cup that you guys won? No, I don't think so. They just have two Olympic medals. OK. Gosh, only two. That is so impressive. OK. So you started playing full time when you were 16. First full time beach volleyball player for Team Canada. Yeah. I feel like that carries a lot of weight. mean, you know.
owned for Team Canada beach volleyball forever? I mean, I tried to. I think I was really lucky with, my specific age range because we had athletes who paved the way for beach volleyball before me. They may not have been as successful or like made names for themselves minus like Heather Bansley and Sarah Pavin and stuff. But there was a of athletes I used to train next to who did the grind, who fought for like some sort of funding.
and all of that and they gave me the ability to choose beach only whereas they didn't have the opportunity to do that. So I was a full-time beach athlete and then I was actually the first Canadian to play in the NCAA as well and then the first to win a national championship. So a lot of firsts. Unreal. Accolades on accolades. That's why you said that you need hours and hours to explain. No, just meant do you guys need my full family story and all the stuff that goes with it.
Yeah, that is so cool. Yeah, that's I mean, thank you for your time. And of course, this is so fun already. Yeah. So so started 16 full time beach volleyball. What was a big key factor in that decision to go full time beach instead of the soccer career or indoor mainly? What did that look like for you? Yeah, I think in full transparency, I
I was a good indoor player, but I knew that I would be better at beach volleyball. And I knew that if I wanted to pursue the Olympic games, that that would be the avenue that I kind of had to take. So it was just having a real conversation with myself and realizing like you can be jack of all trades or master of none. And so I just decided to prioritize beach volleyball like fully. It was a tough year. It was just myself and one other male athlete. His name is Grant Gorman. And we obviously don't have beach volleyball.
Mark Burik (04:44.864)
outside all year round in Canada. So we have an indoor training facility that's quite grim. It's quite gray. And there was no other athletes for me to train with. It was myself and Grant. He was with his coaches. I was with my coach and we just didn't have any competition. We had no camaraderie. We had no teamship. And so I really missed the indoor aspect. And I think because I missed having a team. So I ended up going back to playing indoor in my first year of university.
And then again, at Long Beach State for a semester, because I just missed that teamness. And I think as a young athlete, you need people around you. You need people to thrive off of, and you need kind of that team ship. So that's kind of how I flip-flopped back between beach to indoor and then back to beach volleyball. So, yeah. So the Olympics were always on your radar. Yeah, kind of. That fell in place. That was something you were just chasing after.
Yeah, I wouldn't say that I had like crazy eyes about it. Like I always knew that it could be something that I could achieve. My life wouldn't crumble if I didn't make the Olympic Games, but I knew it was always something that was possible for me to do. So I was like, I can try. I'm healthy enough. I have the motivation to do it. Why wouldn't I give it everything I can? But in a very healthy, like non-obsessive kind of way. Because I think
a lot of athletes go through an identity crisis when they reach the goal that they've wanted to reach their whole lives and they do the thing and then what happens afterwards. So for me, volleyball is just something I've always done, but it's not who I am entirely. And I think that's been a really kind of key narrative over the past couple of years as volleyball has been a little bit more intense the past couple of years. So. Yeah, I love that you mentioned that. And speaking of what is something about Sophie that has nothing to do with volleyball?
teach us something about Sophie outside of volleyball? I love food. I'm such a foodie. I love going to different restaurants. I love food and wine. Like I think, you know, being happy with my girlfriends out at a massive dinner dressing up, like being formal is something that I really love. Volleyball related wise, I did start a volleyball academy for youth athletes. So I love coaching. It's a huge thing that I...
Mark Burik (07:00.558)
It's something that has really re-inspired me in times of difficulty in my own playing career. And so I owe a lot to my success through my avenues of coaching. So that's still volleyball related, but not really like playing related. Okay, so a food junkie. I like it. We can all relate to that. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so with the Volleyball Academy, how long have you been doing that? Year four. So it's still new. It was something that kind of
was
I'm going to hire other coaches and we're all just going to kind of formalize something that's for a couple of hours during COVID. And then it kind of took off and now we have a men's program. We have formal uniforms. like, it's actually taken, taken off. Yeah. Okay. So if you pop off. Yeah, this is great. So you're, you're coaching, you're finding the balance of coaching and training at a high level. even chasing after the Olympics, it's still alive. That's
Unreal. And then obviously you got to make time for the food junkie stuff too. Going out with the ladies. So as you were chasing after the Olympics, I heard it was a pretty wild ride for you specifically. and I'm sure everybody would love to hear about the ups and downs of the Olympic qualification.
that you wrote through, you specifically. Obviously everybody has their own story with that. Everybody had their ebbs and flows in it, but Sophie, share about your time as you were chasing after this dream that you were kind of like, I would definitely, like you weren't super wide-eyed about it, but hey, I'm here and I'm just gonna pursue it and give it all I got for now. If not, great, cool, I just continue moving. So, about your time doing that?
Mark Burik (09:24.32)
Well, growing up, like while I was playing in the under 21 world championships, under 19, kind of throughout my youth career, I was always known as a blocker. So blocking was like my full time position. And during COVID, after the, during the Tokyo games, like just after the Tokyo games, there were conversations about, okay, well, what if someone retires? Like what if one of our top four athletes retires? For example, if...
Heather Bansley retired, or if Sarah and Mel broke up, or if Brandy decided to do something different. know, nobody was really sure about the way of partnerships as Beach volleyball, you never know how they're gonna kind of transpire. And so I started to get my foot in the door with defending because I was like, I wanna put myself in the best opportunity to be prepared for whatever, you know, partnership comes along. And so I sent Brandy a message about this time, I guess it would have been in 2021.
just after the Tokyo games. And I was like, hey, girl, can you do me a solid and come with me to an event in Brazil? I just need to get into this tournament. You have a lot of points. I have none. Like, can you do me a solid and play in this event with me? And I just really shot my shot, you know, really thinking that she'd play in one event with me and call it a day. And she was like, I'm in my off season, so no, but thank you. And that kind of stuck in her brain a little bit that I could be an option as a defender.
And so her and I partnered up in 2022, won our silver medal at the world championships. had a breakout career in my first year on the senior world tour, and then I got dumped and that sucked. And so she picked up Melissa and they've done incredibly well. It's worked out for both of them. And so I was kind of scrambling, like, well, you know, it's 2023 now, the Olympics are a year and a half out. What do I do? And so I called up Sarah Pavin, who was without a partner, played together with her.
We are both very strong personalities, did not work out personality wise. And then I called up Heather Bansley out of retirement and was like, dude, we got 11 months. Like, let's see if we can do this. And finally, and she said, yes, I don't know why, but she did. And I'm so grateful for it. And yeah, we qualified in 11 months. We started from ground zero. We had, she had no points from her, you know, previous time on the world tour. We were in qualifiers for everything.
Mark Burik (11:47.822)
and really had to grind through and finally qualified through the Norseca two weeks before the Olympic Games. Unreal. After being on the bubble, we were fighting like that 16 to 19, 20 spot, and we were fighting our other Canadian counterparts trying to get that Canada 2 spot. So was very emotional, very overwhelming. Never thought my Olympic journey would be like this, but it's a great story for whenever I write my book. And here we are. Yeah.
You Olympian, you. OK, so let's take it back. Yeah, lots to unpack there. Go ahead. I was about to say, there's so much to talk about here. So rewinding all the way, you said 2021 was when you first asked Brandy to play with you. Yeah, it would have been just after the Olympics of 2021. OK, so she's in her offseason. You reach out to her. What were some, I mean, just as, I mean, everybody can kind of relate to this even no matter what level. What were...
some things that helped you build up the confidence to reach out to someone and say, hey, will you partner with me for this event? Yeah, I think I did the work leading up to it to know that there was a possibility for me to be a great defender. And so I would have never asked Brandy or somebody of that magnitude if I didn't think I was capable of really matching what they can bring to the table. So I think for me, it was trusting in all of the work that I did during COVID to put myself in a position where
I had always said this, I was like, I may not dig as many balls as her former partner, Heather Bansley, who now that I've played with her, I can attest that I did not dig as many balls as Heather Bansley. But I was like, maybe I can transition, you know, the same amount of balls as Heather or there was something that I could bring to the table that her other partnerships couldn't. And maybe she was just looking for a different type of energy or a different type of style. Because everyone wants something new. I think every four years you get
kind of complacent in your current styles and the way the game was elevating, I thought I could bring a little bit more kind of dynamic and athleticism to her team. And I was like, the worst she could say is no. So, and she did, she did say no, but then we talked about it later and then she said yes. She saw what she was missing out on. That leads to my next question. What is your like X factor as a partner? Like, what do you bring to the table that nobody else brings? I think I'm...
Mark Burik (14:09.774)
And it's funny because I used to hate when people called me this, but I'm really athletic. And I think that used to bug me because I'm like, gosh, pay attention to my skills too. But I needed to realize that it is something that, you know, I have a competitive advantage and I need to utilize that to the best of my ability. And if I'm sprawled out on the floor, you know, at the baseline, like I can probably still hammer the ball on their side and make it difficult for them. So I think just being like athletic and strong and
capable, those are, I need to just be okay with being called athletic. Yes, that's awesome. I mean, that's a good problem to have. Yeah, for sure. we'll move to the gap. you qualified for the world championships with Brandy in 2022. Yeah. Played second. Awesome. Yeah.
Wow. Okay, so leading up to the world championships, how long did you and Brandy have to train together? Was it that full year? No, it was less than a year. This is a trend with me. I only need less than a year with my partnerships to do that. I'm just kidding. It's kind of everything is just on hyperdrive. And Brandy and I, when we first started out,
I was concussed the first couple of tournaments we played in. And so that kind of set us back in our qualification process for the World Championships, even though we played, which I don't recommend, you shouldn't have, but I did, didn't perform well, obviously. And so that kind of put our qualification for the World Championships on the back burner. And it's such an important tournament to put yourselves in a good position to qualify for the Olympics. So we couldn't really miss out on it and.
We had to play in elite 16s and then like fly to Norsecas and do everything we possibly could to get to qualify. And I think we were the second last spot to qualify for world championships, which in hindsight now seems insane that we finished second. So yeah, it was wild, crazy tournament. That's unreal. Would you that like in comparison to the Olympics, I'm sure obviously Olympics has number one
Mark Burik (16:31.33)
biggest moment of your life in the volleyball career. But would that be a close second or is there anything else prior to that? I think the World Championships was a huge one. think because of the way that we fought for that qualification process and then ended up with a medal, think when you can kind of validate all of the work with something that's physical is obviously really impactful.
puts all that work into perspective of like, okay, I did it for a reason. The Olympics was, it was amazing. Don't get me wrong. Like I'm so happy and grateful that I went. I had a difficult time there because I was injured and it was an injury that wasn't necessarily taken the most serious by my federation. And so that kind of put a damper on my experience at the Olympic games. So I think in future, I'll reflect on it a little bit more and be really happy and grateful and excited about going to the games.
But I think for right now, I'm still a little bit bitter about the way that I experienced the games, which is sad. So I think the World Championships right now holds a little bit closer of a place in my heart, just because it was my team and we were like this, and there was that love and camaraderie, and you ended up getting the thing. So I think that for me was more impactful than just going to one of the tournaments. Yeah, and I'm so sorry that happened. I think I saw something about that. It happens.
there was a few injuries during that qualification process that you were wrestling with. Is that true? There was just one major one that kind of kept coming up. I injured myself in the quarterfinal, one-one in our quarterfinal at the qualification event. And then we went to a training camp the week before the Olympics, didn't have any physiotherapy support, wasn't in the budget for volleyball Canada. And I ended up re-injuring my ankle there. And then at the games themselves,
wasn't really taken serious until the day before the games where my mental performance coach had to advocate for me. She's outside of volleyball Canada and she ended up getting me in with the head Olympic doctor at the games and they injected my ankle every day at the games, which was quite painful. yeah, not ideal, but it's like, yeah, that sucks. happens. So, so going into the
Mark Burik (19:00.086)
Olympics, injured you said you injured it in the qualification tournament. Yeah. Yeah. So whenever you were playing that, how did you like because you have to win that event, right? Yeah. Yeah. did you push through that? you know, it's just mind over matter. Like it's we just taped it up. And I think with the adrenaline, it kind of was I was forced to be able to play and compete and my physio.
she had made a good reference to pain and she was like pain is just a sensation it's like being hot or cold so if you can just tolerate and this is so crazy that athletes have to think about this but you can manage it like you manage temperature like you take a bath and you're like is this water too hot or too cold i don't know for a second it's the same thing that your brain does with your pain receptors so if you can just convince yourself that you're not really in that much pain then you'll be okay so it's kind of what i did
And here you are playing through concussions and all these other interesting things. Not recommended for the average folk, I will say. But if you're trying to go to the Olympics and win a medal, you got to do what you got to do. Sure. Unreal. It sounds like you really powered through some really hard situations. And here you are on the other side with the experience of going to the Olympics, whether it was what you dreamed of or maybe not as
like it didn't quite go the way you planned. You're still an Olympian and that's, so congratulations. Thank you. I did the thing. did the thing. So thinking about, I want to go back to that North Seca event. And I am sure that was probably a surreal moment when you win that final. Can you take us back to that moment where you go to the North Seca, by the way, I'm sure
I've heard horror stories about Norseaka events. so were there anything, was there anything like that leading up to this Norseaka event? they take us to that moment where you're like, my gosh, I just qualified for the Olympics in less than a year. Yeah. gosh. The Norseakas, feel like anybody who's been to Norseaka, we need to get our stories together and write a short story. need to get Travis Merwitter involved. yeah. We need to write a book. Getting to write a book, yeah.
Mark Burik (21:20.35)
Yeah, so leading up to the Norseka qualifier, we didn't know that the ball was going to be the old Mikasa ball. Whoa. Yeah. Yeah. So we found that out. I think. Are you laughing? Are you laughing at this? That's exactly my reaction. No, that's unreal. No, I know. So we showed up to practice. We're all high performance. We're gung ho, ready to do this. And this is the same venue.
that they had the world championships in the year before. So we were like, it's going to be a good spectacle. I had been to this tournament before, you know, in Texakala, it's going to be great. Mexico usually does a good job with their tournaments as well. And so we're at practice, everything's great. And we're looking around like, okay, these are the old micasa balls everyone's using. Like maybe they just didn't get their shipment of balls from micasa. Like we know the new ones are hard to get. Okay, great. So then the next day, same thing happens. And we're like,
Okay, Spidey senses are going up like maybe there's something wrong here. Finally, I messaged the technical director who happens to be Canadian, our high performance coordinator, and I sent him a text being like, hey Ed, can you confirm the balls that we're using? And he's like, they're the old ones. And I was like, Ed, we start tomorrow. What do you mean that these are the old balls? Are we using the old balls at the Olympic games or the new ones? And he's like, the new ones. And I said, so why wouldn't we use the Olympic balls for the Olympic qualifying event? Yeah, what?
So that was crazy. He also had to fight for us to get any court time on center court. know, Mexico was trying to do their little thing and you everyone's trying to play that like bureaucracy a little bit, a little bit of politics, which is fair. I respect it. And then there was a torrential downpour in our final, which classic. So, things that happened at the North Africa. But yeah, we knew that it was going to be a challenge like winning any event.
difficult. Winning an event when you should technically win is also really challenging because you just never know. Like the Costa Rican girls are incredible, the Puerto Rican girls are great, and then the Mexico girls playing at home against Mexican crowds is tough, right? So we knew it was always going to be a challenge and as soon as we beat Puerto Rico in the semi-final we were like, okay, they were nervous. We were nervous to play them, like they're a good scrappy team. You can never be sure that somebody's not going to get 15 tape bases.
Mark Burik (23:47.308)
You just can't be certain you're going to win these events. And finally, when we scored that last point against Mexico, it was like a weight lifted off our shoulders of holy smokes. Like we did that in 11 months. It was the most surreal thing ever. Okay. Did it ever cross your mind whenever you got hurt? What'd you say in the quarterfinals? Yeah, the quarterfinals. Okay. So you played two more matches after that. Yeah, that was one-one.
in the quarterfinal, the very first two points in our quarterfinal match. was like, did we need that really? But we just played every point. We absolutely needed every single point because you really never know. Wow. OK. Did it ever cross your mind to be like, I got to call it? No, never. I think I would physically not be able to walk and then I would have to physically have a bone compound fracture.
for me to not be playing in these events. So there was a of Yeah, was. Wow. Okay. So and that was the ball ring, right? You guys were. Okay. Yeah, I can't imagine what that was like. Then you guys were playing against Mexico in the final. The lineup in the Mexico final to get into the stadium was insane. I think we played
I can't remember what time it was. think it was afternoon, like early afternoon. And, we had a whole bunch of supporters come from Canada or come from LA that were there. Like both of our boyfriends showed up. My family that I live out in LA with showed up to this tournament. And so it was torrential downpour and these poor folks are soaking wet because they've been standing outside in the line, just trying to get into the bullring for our match. That's how many people showed up for this, for this match. was crazy. And you guys were definitely like out.
I think we had five fans. That's all you needed, apparently. That's it. That's all we needed. OK, so we got we got through the world championships and then that man, that's unreal. And I'm sure did you guys stay and celebrate for a while in Mexico? We stayed that night and then I flew out and took.
Mark Burik (26:06.614)
like five days off, I flew out to where my boyfriend lives, which is out west in Canada. And we had a nice relaxing weekend on the island and just stayed in a cabin and did nothing because my brain and body and emotions just needed to decompress. so I cannot imagine how draining that process could be. Yeah. And like, and then at that point, it's just the beginning. know, what's crazy is like,
when you qualify and we were the last continent to qualify, like our tournament was so late. And I think a big part of why we underperformed, at least what we think we underperformed at the Olympics was like mentally and emotionally and physically with my injury. I don't know how we were expected to perform. Like you can't go from such a high and then have like a week off and then, okay, get ready to go to training camp. You're going to go to the Olympics in two weeks. Like it's just your body and brain can't function in that way. And so
for us, like qualifying for the Olympics was our main thing that we really wanted to focus on. that, cause it was so crazy that we had even done that. And then when we were talking about the Olympics, performing was never even really like a conversation because we just didn't really have the time to have that conversation and to feel like we were prepared in any capacity to do it. So, and then we got the pool of death, which like, could there be anything else that wants to be thrown our way?
And then who all was in your pool? We had China, Australia, and the US. Jeez. So we had the four-time Olympian in China, silver medalist in Tokyo, and the second-ranked team in the world. real. Hey, it's you. Cool. Jeez. OK, so you got pool play. What was the, and let's look back at the qualification process again. And look at that. What were some of the most
valuable lessons that you learned during that process? Yeah, I think I think what's undervalued and I think what a lot of people don't know unless you're on tour is how close the athletes get when you're in that bubble. Like if you are like anywhere from 14-15 ranked until 20, you are trauma bonding. Like I have never felt so close to some of those athletes even though
Mark Burik (28:29.848)
Like you're rooting for certain countries and rooting against other countries and forming bonds with like Switzerland to beat your country. It's just the most absurd qualification process ever. And I remember feeling so sad when certain teams lost for them because I know what that felt like and celebrating when other teams celebrated. There's just this new formed bond and friendship that comes from it. I remember when China won one of their matches
they came down the hill and we were doing a debrief and they had their arms outstretched like this, ready to give us a hug. Cause they knew that we needed them to beat that team for us. And it was like the weirdest experience ever, but also so beautiful at the same time. like I had one of the Czech girls before a bronze medal match in Guadalajara come up to me and give me, you know, an electrolyte package. Cause she's like, you played 11 matches in three days. Like you're going to need this.
And so you just create this new friendship with all of these really high performing athletes, which is something that you wouldn't really expect because everyone is so like, you know, fighting for those spots. So yeah, it was really something special for sure. That is really cool to experience. And that's something you guys only know about. Yeah. Yeah. It was really special. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Okay. So that I can just picture that being such a cool moment when you said it was Team China that was coming down the hill ready to hug you.
Yeah, and then like I formed a really close relationship with like Zoe and Esme, for example. So I remember like messaging them being like, do you need to go vent? Do we need to go on a walk? Like, how can I support you in this? Right? Because again, you're traveling with just your partner and sometimes you don't want to be with your partner. You're with them 24 seven. You need another resource or another outlet to vent to. Right. You're in the highest, most intense part of your career and you maybe just want to like dish.
and you need somebody to just be welcoming set of ears. And so I think I found that which was surprising and a lot of the other athletes. And it's not that we were talking shit. It was just like, you need to just vent and express how you're feeling to somebody other than your partner. Wow. Wow. That's a really cool experience. Yeah. Because I mean, you guys went through it. were in the ringer and you were doing it. And like, that's nothing that
Mark Burik (30:49.318)
Your family can understand. That's nothing that your close friends can understand. It's only the people that were in that with you. Totally. What's going on. So that's cool. You guys shared that together. What is your speaking of your partner? What is your favorite thing about Heather? my gosh. She is the most like secretly funny person you will ever meet in your life. She seems so stoic and she tries to put this on this like badass attitude, which she is, but.
Like, and she's so monotone under her breath. She is so funny. Watching her and Sam Schachter interact. I'm like, I think you guys need to have a podcast because they're just so comical. so that, and also she's so reliable. If she says she's going to do something, whether it's on the court, off the court, you don't even need to think twice about it. It's absolutely going to get done, and get done really well. So I think that's an incredible quality of somebody. And yeah.
Those are like two of my favorite things about her. I love that. I love that. I'm sure there's so many different categories of stories that you guys have from this whole process. Like you have the serious, like, this is a huge breakthrough moment for you. We've covered a lot of those. And then also, like, there's got to be so many, now that you say that, there has to be so many funny moments that happen to you guys. Can you think of one right off the top of your head from that whole process that you're like, my gosh, we were cackling at that?
there was one moment where like, I can't remember what had happened. It was like a really long rally and I ended up blocking the ball with one hand, but I was turning and facing Heather and she straight up looked at me. She's like, did you just fucking block that looking at me? And I was like, just started dying laughing on the court. it made it was, it definitely was like an in the moment. You had to be there kind of thing. But there's been a couple of things that her and I just absolutely died cracking up at. That's fun. So about eye contact.
That's it. That's it. And just enjoying your experience on the court, right? Like, I think there's obviously times where you have to be really intense and she's one of the most intense people you'll ever meet. But you also need to leave space that when funny shit happens, you need to be OK to also laugh. Yes, I love that. That's such a way to put it. You got to leave space for the funny stuff. you got to leave it open. So as you're pursuing this, obviously you were serious about it and you are serious about it.
Mark Burik (33:16.632)
How do you keep that space to make sure that you can still laugh and have fun while you're playing the sport that you love? Yeah. I mean, I think any time that gets a little too heavy, I just think about how hysterical the concept of my work is. Like, I get to play keep the balloon off with one of my best friends traveling the world. Like, it's really just such a silly thing to be so intense about. And like, you win a tournament, your life doesn't change.
You lose a tournament, your life doesn't change. You wake up the next day, you put your pants on one leg at a time the next day, unless you guys do it different. But your world still goes and life moves on. So it's just really not that serious. So you have to leave space to enjoy it. Because again, it's just what you do, but it's not who you are. And I think that for me is like a key fundamental. I love that. That's valuable. That's cool. And it frees you up to enjoy it.
put so much pressure on yourself to perform and just count your tournament wins as the only wins that you can get from these big trips you're taking. that point, it's like, was it a really successful season? I don't know. But then if you add all of the different moving pieces that you look at and you say, wow, that was an awesome experience. Wow, that was so fun doing it with my partner and like traveling with family and things like that. And then alongside of that, I even add on top of that.
winning tournaments, what the heck? It's just a bonus, you know? And so I think it's a really cool way that you can, like, that's cool that you found that balance and freed yourself from that pressure of, have to perform at my best. totally. I think I've had a really good career, or guess opportunities throughout my career to always talk with older alumni, whether it's Canadian alumni, American alumni, you know, and
Anytime I ask them about a time on tour, not one single time has an athlete been like, that one time that I won that gold medal and I scored the game winning point like that. No one ever says that. You know, they talk about the laughs that they had with their partners or the dumb stuff that was happening at the after party or, you know, the jokes that they had with the referees or things that happened almost off the sand. And so when I think back on my career, of course, winning medals are great, but they're going to go sit and get dusty.
Mark Burik (35:40.544)
in a trophy case or, you know, in a frame somewhere. But you can relive those moments by having, you know, those conversations of memory with your kids or with younger athletes or, you know, getting on calls like this and being able to share stories that you guys would never know. If I didn't, if I was just head down in the books, just playing volleyball, you guys wouldn't know about the relationships I had with like Zoe and Esme and the Czech girls, right? So I don't know. That's cool. we can play with that too.
Yeah. Cool. So going into, I could talk about the qualification process all day. mean, it was wild. So intriguing to listen to. But let's jump to your experience while you were in the Olympics in Paris. What was it like when you first, like apart from the injury and everything, what was it like the first time you stepped on that court?
and look up and see the Eiffel Tower and it's time for you to play the sport you love on the big stage. my gosh, it was so surreal. think like it's like a Cinderella story when I think about it and I romanticize my first, you know, match at the Olympic Games, but it had been raining all day. There wasn't like that many people in the stands. It was still relatively packed, but not not full. And as soon as we were about to warm up, rain stopped, skies parted. It was like blue and pink, beautiful sunset.
you know, we were warming up right next to the Eiffel Tower. And then when our names were being called out, they had put on this like light procession. So everyone got their flashlights out and they lit up the Eiffel Tower when they were calling out our names. It was a night game. It was a 10 PM match. And like that for me was, I don't think there'll be anything that competes with that introduction. And again, I'm like romanticizing it because I think it's so special for me that the sun set perfectly for me, but it just genuinely felt like that. And I've had.
A pretty difficult career, I will say, up until when I first started playing volleyball, just the past 10 years of my career has not been seamless in any respect. And so it felt just kind of like accumulating moment of like, okay, well, this is what it's supposed to be like. Like, this is how you're supposed to feel. You did it. You got here. Congratulations, almost like a pat on the back to myself that, you know, the undenying faith that I had that I was going to qualify.
Mark Burik (38:07.34)
which I don't know how I had this faith, but I did, that all the things that I'd gone through and everything that had been difficult leading up to that moment was worth it. And so it was definitely something that was really special. wow. Yeah. Man, so everything just kind of, I feel like that's a moment where everything can just kind of come to the surface and be a very emotional moment for you. Just looking back at that whole process and then being like, wow, it all came together. Here I am.
Yeah, I think, you know, I had asked Heather, because she's now a three time Olympian, I was like, what should I feel? Like, I need to prepare myself. I'm a very emotional human. Am I going to ball my eyes out? Am I going to be able to perform? Like, you need to talk me through this. And she was like, whatever you think you're going to feel, you're going to feel a million times more than that. And I was like, my God, I'm not prepared. I remember sitting there.
Because it was about the volleyball and we were just about to play a match, all I was thinking about was keep the balloon off the ground. Like this is volleyball, you've done this before, it's nothing new, it's just in front of the Eiffel Tower with a stadium full of people. But like, whatever. You've played against, you've played in front of bigger crowds, it's not that serious, like trying to downplay it a little bit. And so I felt like I thought there would be tears. I thought that I'd feel a little bit more like choked up and emotional. And I felt very matter of fact about it, which...
I'm proud of myself for because I could have gotten really emotional about it. But I know at some point in my life when I think back on that moment, I'll love her like a baby. I just thought that that moment was going to be pregame. And then I was like, there's cameras. Don't do it. you're me that you get on this biggest stage ever. Yeah.
All you were thinking is keep the balloon off the ground. Yeah, I was like just it's a hard cross and a high line. Wow, like simplify it. We just we over complicate the game so much. Just do the small things well and they don't have to be perfect. Just well did the ball get to the sand? OK, great. That's the good enough. that's good enough. Keep the ball off the sand. That's so hard to think about in that moment.
Mark Burik (40:30.648)
So, I think that it's something though that like, you know, we always, like, I mean, use this word again, but we romanticize the Olympic games. Like it's always like the pinnacle of sport and you must do everything to get to this one tournament. Okay. And then what? Sure. Sure. Right. Like, or what if you have a bad experience there or like, you know, we always think about the buzzer beater and we think about the guy who touches catches the end zone pass and all these things.
Those are great stories, but what about the person who comes second or third or fourth or who comes last? You know, I think we as athletes, always want that Cinderella story, and I think that's important to or like try to get, but it doesn't always happen. And I think the rest of the stories are also important to be told like, OK, what if you don't feel anything when you walk out at the Olympic Games? Does that make me weird or does that make us glorifying the Olympic Games weird? Right. So just being a little devil's advocate to the Olympic Games. I love it.
Wow, what an experience. so you played the Olympics and did you guys break pool or were you guys done after pool play? Done. I got to be a tourist in Paris. Hey, that's a win. That's a win. I drank lots of champagne. I ate a lot of cheese. Let's go. Let's go. Which game do you feel like you played best in the Olympics and why?
I think personally I played best in our first game against the US. I was proud of myself in our last match against Australia to continue to spin serve, for example. It's not something I always do, but I was like, eh, throw caution to the wind, might as well. Maybe not the moment to try something, but I was like, who cares? You might as well see what happens. So, I mean, like I had said, I think we underperformed
both of us. Like, I don't think either of us played our best matches in any of those games. But I think for me personally, it would have been our first match against the US. Wow. Yeah. So going through the Olympics, you do it all. What was your favorite? So it's a two-part question. was favorite thing about the Olympics? And then two, what was the biggest valuable lesson that you learned from your experience in the Olympics? We already talked about that with the qualification.
Mark Burik (42:59.086)
at the Olympics in itself. Yeah. For the the what was what was the first question? What was the fun? What was my favorite thing about the Olympics? And then also the biggest value. Yeah. My favorite thing about the Olympics, I think. I think for me, it was like getting to the Olympic Village and being in the rooms, getting our kit and me and Heather doing like a stupid little fashion show with all of the Lululemon kit.
because for us, it really made us feel like we were finally there, right? And so there had been moments in our partnership where, for world championships, for example, I thought that Heather and I were gonna get a chance to go to the world championships in Mexico. And in my opinion, it was kind of stripped from us. And so there had been things in our partnership that could be, that were taken from us, like rightly ours, but taken from us. And so we weren't even sure, like in the back of our minds, there was always a,
my gosh, but what if they send someone else? Like, what if this isn't actually me and you? Like, what if, what if, what if? And so when we got our kits, when we finally signed our names in, we were like, my gosh, we did it. Like, this is us. They can't take us out now. There's no subs. And so I think for us, it was like a stupid, silly moment, but just her and I and having that like together silliness of, dude, we did this. This was really hard, but now we can have some fun and just enjoy the fact that we made it. So.
For me, would be like getting to the village and undoing our kit and kind of having our little fashion show together was really fun. And then- We can move on, sorry. No, that's okay. With that, I think I kind of remember hearing about the whole world championships. Do you mind giving some detail to those? Yeah. I will preface and say that Volleyball Canada as a federation is very policy driven.
And sometimes the written policy can be quite vague and there's a lot of situation and situational things that kind of come up that we don't really have alternative policies for. So I will preface by saying that, but when Sarah broke up our partnership, it was right before the Canadian trials to go to the Norseka World Championship qualifier. And so we had to do an internal tournament. The winner of that would go to the Norseka. You had to come top three at the Norseka to qualify for world champs.
Mark Burik (45:25.868)
And so I was in the conversation with Heather about whether or not she wanted to play with me. She doesn't make any decision lightly. And so she was taking her time fully committing to saying yes. And so at this time I was asking Volleyball Canada, okay, well, can I play in this tournament with Heather? And they were like, no, she doesn't have the minimum amount of points. You need 400 points to qualify for world champs. Pick somebody else. And I said, okay, but there's, you know, two events in Canada. What if she gets 400 points? And they're like, she won't.
She won't do it, it's not possible, so pick somebody else. And I was like, okay, fine. So I played with another Canadian athlete, her name is Shanice. Her and I won the tournament, the Canadian internal tournament. We go to the Norseca, we come third at the Norseca, which means we qualified for world champs. So then Heather and I form our formal partnership and Shanice ends up not getting 400 points, but Heather does. So in my brain, I was like,
I went to two tournaments and qualified Canada for the spot twice. Of course, Heather can be my partner and go. Heather has 400 points. Nope. They sent Sarah Pavin and Molly McBain to the world championships. Yep. Molly, who played in Canadian trials, she played with Maria Lex and lost in the finals. And then Sarah, who didn't come to the event, didn't come to the tournament. So. Unreal.
Quite unfortunate considering I had won a silver medal the year before at the World Championships, but you know. Because is that is that one of the tournaments that earns a bid for the Confederation rather than the team? OK, yes. So you earn the spot for Canada and then Canada can choose who they nominate, which and then there was this ongoing joke after we won the North Seca Olympic qualifier where people were like, but are you sure you're going? And I'm like, is our fear. Like, we don't know.
I gotta fake so? I don't know. That was kind of, that was really terrible and I got legal involved because I felt like it was so unjust. You know, to have put my own money on the line to qualify for Canada for two events, to play with a three-time Olympian or two-time Olympian at the time, for me just made sense, you know, that you would send a person who rightly qualified and her two-time Olympian partner but that's not the way that they functioned and unfortunately I lost the lawsuit and
Mark Burik (47:51.726)
But yeah, they ended up sending Sarah and Molly, which then put them ahead in the Olympic qualification race, which made things all that more spicy. Yeah. And then here you are on the other side. Wow. You know, sometimes the volleyball gods work out. They do. OK. unreal. And I think that's kind of what I was heading towards during the qualification was like, I don't know what that was about. Because I would hear like whispers and stuff out in Hermosa about all of it. And I was like, I kind of want to look into this a bit more.
Yeah, I'm totally transparent. I, you know, try to say everything from everybody's side and but you know, the people want to know. yeah. Yeah. And that is I can't imagine like earning that and then them being like, all right, now we're going to give it to, you know, Sarah and Molly over here. And think too, like it was it was the way that it was handled, I think was really poor. So like qualifying and winning two tournaments, two separate tournaments.
I had asked if Heather could be my partner and they said no. Not for me, I was like, why don't you just let me take the risk and if she doesn't get 400 points, then we don't qualify. Right. So you're already putting us at a disadvantage there. And then I was like, Sarah broke up our partnership also. So there was already kind of that animosity there. And it wasn't for me in the most cordial way either. So there was already bad blood there. And then now there's this. it just...
It felt very unjust to me and it felt like Bible Canada didn't have my back at all. Which is not a new thing, if I'm being completely honest, but yeah, it was quite unfortunate for me and Heather for sure. You did it. We did it. We did it the hard way and it was the fun way. Technically, you're a two or three time Olympian from the sounds of it. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so moving on.
forward after this huge event in your life. It sounds like you're prepping for a tournament coming up here soon. What else other than that tournament coming up is next for you? Like what does this upcoming six months look like for you? Yeah, that's a good question. I have no idea and I'm so excited about not having a plan. am going to do this final tournament of the year with Heather.
Mark Burik (50:14.67)
and I'm going to go to Romania where my boyfriend is playing pro indoor and I'm just going to go spend some time there until the new year and then kind of pick up and see what happens after January. The idea of playing indoor is not off the table. I've definitely thought about going and picking up playing pro overseas somewhere just for a couple months. Just it's still volleyball but it's not beach volleyball so I can kind of give my brain a little bit of a break.
make some money, which would be nice because we know beach volleyball in Canada is not financially supported. So I think that'll be something that I contemplate doing possibly in the spring. So we'll see. Nice. Well, good luck. That sounds like a fun adventure. Thank you. And I hope you get like the best rest ever after this tournament. Me too. OK. As obviously there's a lot of uncertainty with like what's coming up.
But what's your, what do your normal off seasons look like? Pretend it's not a season with the Olympics that just wrapped up, but like your normal going into the off season, what does that look like for you? wow. can't even say that I've had a normal off season because I've not been a senior pro athlete like since Brandy. And since then I haven't really had an off season, but, predominantly would be really focusing on strength and conditioning.
I think for me that's one where I feel like I'm giving my all to volleyball even if I'm not playing volleyball every day. Like I would rather be in the gym three, four times a week, kind of preparing my body for what's about to come because season is grueling. You don't really have time to build muscle and to kind of bulk up in the way that you should and need to prevent injury and just stay as strong and physical as, you know, somebody like me I'd like to be. So yeah, it's just prioritizing.
nutrition and strength and conditioning really and giving myself like an emotional time of like downtime, spending time with my family and my friends and reconnecting in terms of relationships and stuff like that. So I think that's kind of what off season would look like for me. Wow. I love it. Yeah. I'm excited. Yeah. Keeping up with the body. It's so valuable. It's huge. It's huge for anybody who needs a little boost into strength and conditioning and nutrition.
Mark Burik (52:38.978)
do it. This is my son to you to pay attention to it. So yeah, it's funny you mentioned that we're going through mobile October right now with all of our people. tell me about that. Necessary. So basically we have these workouts for every single day. Like a big challenge for everyone who wants to do it. It's So Sophie, if you want to jump in, you feel free to. When I'm in Romania, I have will have nothing to do. So guys, I may need something to do.
Don't ask me to do push-ups though, it's my least favorite. can't do them. I'm so embarrassed by them. We can skip that if we I'll just log off for that one. That's the one I just... Just turn the camera off right there. Nice. Awesome. Well, Sophie, thank you for your time. I want to make sure I'm expecting your time. Yeah. Before you hop off, is there anything else that you'd like to share with these guys and gals in here that you're like...
don't want to leave this without saying this one thing. And if you don't mind, we're probably going to make a podcast out of this as well. sure. Anything else that you'd like to just drop on us that you're like, can't leave them without saying this? Well, I mean, the first thing I want to say is thank you. I think the beach volleyball community is so special and we wouldn't be able to do what we do without support and people who care enough about it. So I want to say one, thank you for having me on, but also like
Thank you for playing beach volleyball. Thank you for giving back to the community and for expanding and growing the sport that we all love so much. yeah, that's kind of the biggest first and foremost thing that I want to say is a big thank you to everyone. Yeah. guess the other thing that I like to kind of get across to whether it's like young athletes or I guess any athletes really is that you don't have to feel stuck in an environment where you don't feel like you can thrive.
So, and that doesn't mean being disloyal to a program or being disloyal to a school or being disloyal to beach or to indoor is just being loyal to yourself. And that there's a lot of times where coaches or parents or significant others are going to try to force you to choose between different things. And for me, the door is never fully closed. Of course, give yourself entirely to one thing, but that door can always be reopened. And so, again, it's not being disloyal to anything else, but being completely loyal to yourself. So,
Mark Burik (55:05.134)
Be in environments where you feel like you can absolutely thrive and be the best version of yourself. And then you'll really surprise yourself and maybe end up at the Olympic Games. Wow, that is so cool. So you think for your time you just earned or you just gained so many new super fans from the sport. love it. Thank you. As we wrap up, go ahead and drop your like Instagram and stuff in the chat. Sure. And can follow along. Yeah, I'll do that in the chat here. And then if you have any sponsors you'd like to plug to, feel free.
Pretty much those guys, just myself. I love it. If anyone knows of anybody who's looking to sponsor like a pretty personable, funny Canadian volleyball player, let me know. there you go. Boom. That's the play. Okay, amazing. Thanks so much for having me on, you guys. And if you guys have any questions or like need anything, please DM me. I usually get back to people as much as I can. So don't feel weird about it. Please send me a message. I'm happy to reply. So. that. Awesome. Thank you so much, Sophie. Have a great day. Have a good day, guys.
