Angela Peddle, Memorial University

Women's Volleyball

For fifth-year Sea-Hawks women’s volleyball middle Angela Peddle, winning certainly isn’t everything.

“It’s not all about the end goal of winning, or beating your personal best,” said Peddle. “It’s about your love for the game. As long as you love it, no matter how badly you play, you’ll have good memories and something positive to say about it.”

Now in her second year of nursing, the St. John’s native adopted this philosophy of having fun and not taking herself too seriously early in her playing career.

“My earliest volleyball memory is of a tournament in Grade 8 where we all dressed up in ridiculous hats and outfits and did dances and cheered the whole tournament,” said Peddle. “That moment taught me that you can have fun and smile while playing sports.”

Peddle said she didn’t take volleyball all that seriously until much later in her career than most.

“Volleyball didn’t become important to me until my friend and current teammate Adrienne Penney convinced me to try out for the National Team Challenge Cup in 2008, the summer before I was to start university,” she explained. “On that team I started to realize that I really loved the sport and wanted to keep playing.”

Her late start caused some nerves in her early days with the Memorial Sea-Hawks. “Trying out for the Hawks was terrifying,” admitted Peddle. “I had barely watched a university game, let alone tried out for a team with such high-calibre athletes. It was an intimidating experience.

But Peddle made the team and quickly found her groove, bringing her positive attitude to the table with her new team. “I’ve learned not taking the game so seriously has led me to become a better player because I’m more relaxed and able to let go of my mistakes so that I don’t repeat them,” she explained. “I find that this calmness can spread to my teammates and help them too.”

The now veteran player often gets her team involved in volunteering and community outreach. “Outside of school and sports, I volunteer. I coach, ref and get involved in anything I can,” said Peddle. “Most times I drag my team along, helping us win the Sea-Hawks Cup three years in a row now.”

The Sea-Hawks Cup is awarded by Memorial to the sports team with the most volunteer hours and the highest grades.

Despite her competitive nonchalance, Peddle has been an impact player for the Sea-Hawks on the court as well as off. Last year, she was named to the AUS first team all-star squad for the first time in her playing career.

But her priorities for herself and her team remain the same as they always have. “My hopes are to come together as a team, play with heart and passion and leave everything we have on the floor every game,” said Peddle. “As long as we do those things, I don’t care if we win a single match.”

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Getting to know Angela Peddle…

Q-Where are you from?

“I was born in Brampton, Ont., but moved to St. John’s when I was a year old and I’ve lived here ever since.”

Q-What has been your most memorable moment playing for Memorial?

“By far the most memorable moment was hosting the AUS playoffs during our first match against Moncton. The atmosphere was exhilarating. You could feel everyone’s emotions from the stands. Also, seeing such a large part of the community out to support us was an indescribable feeling.”

Q-What do you hope to do with your degree once you graduate from Memorial?

“I’m not positive yet; I still have a lot of areas to experience. But, so far the top contenders are occupational health nursing, community health nursing or operating room nursing.”