Pros outweigh the cons: Sask.'s Julie Kozun excited for 2nd Paralympics in sitting volleyball
After losing her lower left leg in lawnmowing accident, Kozun was concerned she'd never play volleyball again
Julie Kozun was concerned she would never play volleyball again after losing her lower left leg in a lawnmower accident in 2015.
Nearly a decade later, Kozun is about to represent Canada in sitting volleyball at the Paralympics for the second time. The 24-year-old Melfort, Sask. native and her teammates take on Slovenia in their opening match of the 2024 Paris Games on Thursday.
Kozun joined the national sitting volleyball team a few months after her accident. But prior to solely focusing on the Para sport, she made sure to return to her high school's standing volleyball team, competing with a prosthetic leg.
In Kozun's senior year, she helped the Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate win a provincial championship. Kozun was inducted into the school's wall of fame earlier this year.
"I did it pretty well, obviously I couldn't jump like I used to be able to, so I just focused a lot on serving and passing, which was good,'' Kozun said. "It was a lot of fun and I think it was like the closure I needed at the time.''
Kozun said that the experience of playing with her high school teammates helped her accept her new reality.
"I think it kind of helped me accept that playing an adaptive sport is OK and accepting that I can go further with an adaptive sport than I can with standing,'' Kozun said. "Now looking back, l think the pros definitely outweigh the cons.''
Kozun has traveled the world competing with Canada's sitting volleyball team. She was part of the squad that came fourth at the Tokyo Paralympics and helped Canada punch its ticket to France by winning silver at the 2023 World Cup in Egypt.
How does sitting volleyball work?
Sitting volleyball requires players to sit on the floor at all times. There's a smaller court and a lower net, leading to a notably faster game than the standing version of the sport. The teams are typically composed of athletes with lower limb impairments.
"It is very quick, it took at least a year to figure out the movement, figure out how to get to the ball and then do the volleyball skill you need to do so the movement part is like the hardest adjustment for sure,'' Kozun said.
Kozun is the only player on the national team from Saskatchewan. She said it can be difficult to find people to train with ahead of the Paris Paralympics.
"I had to get creative, my boyfriend came out, he's not very good, he's not very flexible sitting on the ground so he was just kind of like a pylon to block,'' Kozun said
"It was just like trying to find people in the volleyball community that have never done it before, but just to come and try it out and help me out, just anyone to even toss a ball or shag balls or anything like that.''
Looking forward to Paris spectacle
Kozun said she is grateful for the experience competing in Tokyo, but she is looking forward to the spectacle of the Paris Games without COVID-19 restrictions and competing in front of fans — including her family and some friends who are making the trip to France
"Even at the World ParaVolley final qualification tournament in Halifax ahead of the Tokyo games, our family was there and I think I played better. So I'm hoping that they'll just give me more energy to play my best,'' Kozun said.
There will also be plenty of support back home in Melfort. Mayor Glenn George expects many of the city's residents to tune in for Kozun's matches.
"I mean, how many Paralympians or how many Olympians are there from Saskatchewan? Not very many,'' George said.
"We're happy that she's representing Canada, but ultimately she's representing Melfort too."
George said Kozun showed true grit and determination to continue excelling at the sport she loved after her horrific accident.
"She's really made lemonade out of lemons,'' George said.
WATCH | Learn how sitting volleyball works at the Paralympics:
Kozun and Canada's sitting volleyball team has big goals for the Paris games. After just missing the podium in Tokyo, they want to come home with a medal.
"We usually meet our goals, so I'm pretty confident we'll meet our goal again,'' Kozun said.
Team Canada is competing in their pool play games are on Thursday, Saturday and Monday. The top four teams from the group stage make the semifinals which are on Sept. 5 while the medal matches will be played on Sept. 7.
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