Blue Collar Girl
8/30/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
The world's largest Potash mine employs a little over a third of the residents of the easternSaskatchewan town. And this summer, one of its laborers was Bobcat volleyball standoutAimee Halyk, who grew up in the shadows of IMC.
We wouldn't have Esterhazy if there weren't any potash, said Halyk, a 6-foot outside hitter.It totally runs the town.
This summer, Halyk got to clean-up, shovel, and hose-down messes that no one else wantedto touch. And, because she was a summer student worker, she even got to clean the worst ofthe worse messes. Potash is fertilizer for crops and IMC sells their product world-wide. Halyklanded the job because her father has served as an IMC underground warehouseman for thepast 17 years.
IMC lets family members work for two years, Halyk said. It's good money and despite
being dirty for days, we really had a lot of fun.
Halyk also saw her time at IMC as a good training tool heading into fall camp. I walked up
hundreds of stairs, hauled pails, shoveled on an incline, and filled a 1,000-ton bucket about
45-60 times, Halyk said. I'm definitely in the best shape of my entire life.
This fall, Halyk will be called on to help a young team through their early growing pains. Last
season, she saw limited action on the right-side and in the middle. This year, she'll need to
make an immediate contribution in terms of on-court prowess and off-court leadership.
I'm feeling really good heading into the season, Halyk said. This year is so different from last
year. However, it's a good different. The tables are turned this year, because instead of having
five seniors to look up to, we're now the ones that need to set the example.
Aside from hiding from her foreman, one of her most demanding duties in the mine was to
clean out the inside of an enormous dryer that pushed the thermometer over 100-degrees.
Workers were only allowed to stay in the dryer for five-minutes at a time, before a safety
monitor would bring them out into a heat stress area for a 10-15 minute cool down.
The dryer was brutal, Halyk said. We would come out of there absolutely drenched. It was
a very physically demanding job, and with the additional weight-work I did at night, I think the
whole job experience will pay-off this fall.
According to MSU head coach Dave Gantt, Halyk has the genetic propensity to do great
things on the court this season. Aimee is an extremely strong athlete, Gantt said. We need
her to establish a high level of play and carry it throughout the season. She certainly has the
physical ability to hit the air out of the ball.
And after all, spiking a volleyball is a lot more fun then having black magnetite powder in your
face.
We wouldn't have Esterhazy if there weren't any potash, said Halyk, a 6-foot outside hitter.It totally runs the town.
This summer, Halyk got to clean-up, shovel, and hose-down messes that no one else wantedto touch. And, because she was a summer student worker, she even got to clean the worst ofthe worse messes. Potash is fertilizer for crops and IMC sells their product world-wide. Halyklanded the job because her father has served as an IMC underground warehouseman for thepast 17 years.
IMC lets family members work for two years, Halyk said. It's good money and despite
being dirty for days, we really had a lot of fun.
Halyk also saw her time at IMC as a good training tool heading into fall camp. I walked up
hundreds of stairs, hauled pails, shoveled on an incline, and filled a 1,000-ton bucket about
45-60 times, Halyk said. I'm definitely in the best shape of my entire life.
This fall, Halyk will be called on to help a young team through their early growing pains. Last
season, she saw limited action on the right-side and in the middle. This year, she'll need to
make an immediate contribution in terms of on-court prowess and off-court leadership.
I'm feeling really good heading into the season, Halyk said. This year is so different from last
year. However, it's a good different. The tables are turned this year, because instead of having
five seniors to look up to, we're now the ones that need to set the example.
Aside from hiding from her foreman, one of her most demanding duties in the mine was to
clean out the inside of an enormous dryer that pushed the thermometer over 100-degrees.
Workers were only allowed to stay in the dryer for five-minutes at a time, before a safety
monitor would bring them out into a heat stress area for a 10-15 minute cool down.
The dryer was brutal, Halyk said. We would come out of there absolutely drenched. It was
a very physically demanding job, and with the additional weight-work I did at night, I think the
whole job experience will pay-off this fall.
According to MSU head coach Dave Gantt, Halyk has the genetic propensity to do great
things on the court this season. Aimee is an extremely strong athlete, Gantt said. We need
her to establish a high level of play and carry it throughout the season. She certainly has the
physical ability to hit the air out of the ball.
And after all, spiking a volleyball is a lot more fun then having black magnetite powder in your
face.
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, March 27
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
