Julio Fernandez: For love of the game

At the age of four, he started playing baseball, like everyone else from Venezuela.

“Then I started playing volleyball in high school, just for fun, and I really liked it,” said Julio Fernandez.

“I started going for practice with a provincial team and I just kept going every day and I fell in love with this sport.”

Fernandez is a third-year outside hitter for the UNB Varsity Reds men’s volleyball team. After playing 11 years of provincial volleyball, he decided to leave his home and come to Canada to live his dream of playing volleyball.

“I was playing with my provincial team, I was going to university and I said ‘well, I think this is the time to take this to a different level, so why not just go to a different country and try to do a different thing?’”

But it wasn’t as easy as that. After choosing a university, he had complications getting approved for a visa. He didn’t make it to Brandon University in Winnipeg early enough to take the mandatory English course he needed because he didn’t speak any English.

Determined to reach his goal, improve his game and play volleyball in a different country, Fernandez sent videos to UNB head volleyball coach, Dan McMorran. After watching the videos, Fernandez said McMorran told him he could come try playing for his team.

“When I finally got my visa – it was actually really quick – I got my visa one day, two days after I bought my ticket, and I came here to try it. I was really happy that I chose UNB.”

Dedication and determination got Fernandez through the beginning of his time at UNB. The level of play wasn’t the only different thing about playing for an Atlantic University Sport team. Learning the language was the biggest challenge.

“I went to my first practice and the coach was talking and explaining the exercises and I was like ‘what the heck is going on?,’” he said.

“I had no idea.”

At first his inability - later his difficulty - with speaking English helped to bring the team together. The team made sure he felt at home offering to help with anything he needed. Many times they even helped with homework.

“Sometimes I say stuff that doesn’t make sense and they say ‘woah, what are you saying,’ and then I have to repeat it,” he said.

“But now we just make fun of everything that I say and how I acted before and we always remember the first day when I was here and we just laugh about it.”

The first season Fernandez came to UNB, he only started playing in January. He used that time to improve his skills and they carried over to his second year. Toward the end of the season, he started to play a lot better. He and Jacob Kilpatrick became a powerhouse.

Not only were they friends on the court, but off as well. Fernandez said that the whole team has become his family now. He and Kilpatrick were major players last year, as they played a large part in the success of the team during the AUS championships.

“Jake was the first one who went to pick me up from the airport. Every time you need him, he was there for anything,” he said.

After a rough start to the season, Fernandez says that he’s ready for the second half. He feels confident in himself and the team that they can pull things together.

“Now is when the second part comes, there’s another half and I’m pretty excited for it. That’s the time when we have to play or play because we don’t have any other choice.”

Fernandez didn’t give up when he realized how much work coming to university in Canada would be. That’s why he still has big dreams.

With one year left of his degree, Fernandez is starting to think about the future.

“I think I’m going to try to play one year and live the experience,” he said.

“I think I’m going to try to do that – stay in shape, grow up as a player and maybe if I get better, I’m definitely going to try that.”

Like he once did with volleyball, Fernandez has fallen in love with Canada and says when he’s finished playing volleyball, he’d like to live and work here.