Melfort's Julie Kozun will compete in sitting volleyball at Tokyo 2021 Paralympics. (Submitted photo/Julie Kozun)

By Angie Rolheiser

Paralympics

Northeast Sask. athlete heading to Tokyo for Paralympics

Aug 6, 2021 | 1:13 PM

One Saskatchewan athlete heading to Tokyo for the 2021 Paralympics comes from the northeast.

Melfort’s Julie Kozun’s love of volleyball began in Grade 7 when she was playing with her high school team at Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate (MUCC).

After some recovery from losing her left leg below the knee in 2015, Kozun transitioned into the national sitting volleyball team.

“I played with that team for a year and then I took a year off to graduate and just be a kid,” Kozun said.

It was the summer between her Grade 10 and 11 year when Kozun was involved with a lawn mower accident at her friends farm which resulted in the loss of her leg. Post recovery and with a prosthetic leg, Kozun continued to play standing volleyball with the MUCC high school team.

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“I joined the sitting team again after graduating in 2017 and I have been playing ever since,” Kozun said.

The transition from volleyball to sitting volleyball was like learning how to play all over again, according to Kozun. Play decisions must be made quicker as well as learning how to hit, pass and serve from sitting, she said.

This will be Kozun’s first appearance at the Paralympics but she has competed in some higher caliber settings such as the Parapan Am Games in 2019.

“If we had won second place, we would have qualified for the Paralympics there, but we didn’t, we got third,” Kozun said. “We had a last chance qualifier in Halifax and we had to beat every team there which we did, and that was in 2019 as well before COVID.”

The team, like many others had some time off with the onset of the pandemic but were able to play together in June.

“We went to Oklahoma to have friendly competition against the United States team and then upon returning to Canada we had to quarantine for two weeks,” Kozon said. “We were able to train together during that two-week quarantine so that was beneficial.”

On Sunday, Kozun will leave Melfort and head to Edmonton where she will meet her teammates. The team will train there for a week before flying to Tokyo on Aug. 13. One week after arriving in Tokyo is when the team will enter the athlete village for the Paralympics.

“This team has put so much work in for the last five years and we are ready to surprise the world with the work they have put in and we are looking to make it to the podium,” Kozun said.

The summer Paralympics in Tokyo begin on Aug. 24 and end on Sept. 5. The sitting volleyball events begin on Aug. 27.

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angie.rolheiser@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser