Heather Bansley

{{Infobox volleyball biography

| name = Heather Bansley

| image = File:Heather Bansley July 2021 (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Bansley in 2021

| fullname =

| nickname =

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| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1987|9|13|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = London, Ontario, Canada

| death_date =

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| height = 1.70 m

| weight = 64 kg

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| college = Toronto Varsity Blues

| currentyears =

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| nationalteam = {{flagicon|Canada}} Canada

| years = 2013-16
2016-21

| teammates = Sarah Pavan
Brandie Wilkerson

| tours (points) =

| resultyears = 2018
2018
2018

| location = Chetumal
Warsaw
Las Vegas

| result = 1st
1st
1st

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| updated =

}}

Heather Bansley (born September 13, 1987)[http://olympic.ca/team-canada/heather-bansley/ COC Profile] is a Canadian beach volleyball player, playing as a left-side defender.{{cite web|url=https://de.beachmajorseries.com/en/teams-players/playerdetails?id=1213|title=Players Details: Heather Bansley|publisher=Beach Volleyball Major Series|accessdate=August 26, 2018}} She has been named FIVB Best Defensive Player of the World Tour in 2015,{{Cite web|title=FIVB 2015 Womens Awards|url=https://www.fivb.com/en/about/news/2016-fivb-world-tour-update-after-fivb?id=57966}} 2016{{Cite web|title=FIVB 2016 Womens Awards|url=http://worldtour.2016.fivb.com/en/news/germanys-ludwig-wins-top-individual-2016-world?id=65162}} and 2018.{{Cite web|title=FIVB 2018 Womens Awards|url=http://worldtour.2018.fivb.com/en/648/news/20-year-old-duda-selected-as-womens-fivb-world?id=78479}}

University career

Bansley played CIS volleyball for the Toronto Varsity Blues for five seasons from 2005 to 2010 where she was a member of the 2009-10 OUA champions.{{cite web|url=https://varsityblues.ca/sports/womens-volleyball/roster/heather-bansley/2114|title=2009-10 Women's Volleyball Roster, Heather Bansley|publisher=Toronto Varsity Blues|access-date=July 26, 2020}}

Pro career

Bansley and former partner Sarah Pavan were part of the Canadian team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.{{cite web |url=http://olympic.ca/2016/06/11/three-beach-volleyball-teams-earn-olympic-berths/ |title=Three beach volleyball teams earn Olympic berths |last1=Hossain |first1=Asif|date=June 11, 2016 |website=olympic.ca |publisher=Canadian Olympic Committee |access-date=June 16, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Wake|first=Bev |date=June 7, 2016 |title=Heather Bansley: A Q-and-A with the Olympic beach volleyball player |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/sports/rio-2016/heather-bansley-a-q-and-a-with-the-olympic-beach-volleyball-player |newspaper=National Post |location=Toronto, Canada |access-date=June 16, 2016 }} After qualifying for the women's tournament, the pair competed in Pool E and won all 3 matches with a 2–0 set score. For the Round of 16 match, they were paired with the other Canadian team of Broder and Valjas, which they won in straight sets of (21–16, 21–11). They lost to Germany's Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst in straight sets of (14–21, 14–21) in the quarterfinals.{{cite news|last1=Merce|first1=Greg|title=Pavan and Bansley's Olympic run ends|url=https://therecord.blogs.com/roadtorio/2016/08/pavan-and-bansleys-olympic-run-ends-.html|access-date=August 19, 2019|work=The Record|date=August 14, 2016|archive-date=August 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819234356/https://therecord.blogs.com/roadtorio/2016/08/pavan-and-bansleys-olympic-run-ends-.html|url-status=dead}}

Bansley and her next partner Brandie Wilkerson first competed together at the Swatch World Tour finals in Toronto (September 13–18, 2016), where they finished 9th.[http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/bansley-wilkerson-world-tour-finals-roundup-1.3762593 Canada's Bansley, Wilkerson 2-0 as beach v-ball partners at World Tour event] In 2018, they had a break-out year and closed the season ranked No. 1 on the FIVB world tour.{{Cite web|date=|title=Wilkerson and Bansley Top Women's Beach Volleyball Rankins|url=https://en.volleyballworld.com/en/beachvolleyball/worldtour/2019/news/wilkerson-and-bansley-top-women’s-beach-volleyball?id=80406}}

Bansley and Wilkerson were named as part of the Canadian Olympic team for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, one of the nation's two entries in the women's tournament along with the team of Bansley's former partner Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes. Bansley and Wilkerson struggled during pool play, recording two losses and one win, but advanced into the knockout stages due to being one of the top two "Lucky Loser" teams. In the Round of 16 they were the sixteenth seed, but unexpectedly upset the third-seeded American team of Claes/Sponcil by winning two sets to one.{{cite news |title=Canadian beach volleyball duo Bansley, Wilkerson advance to quarter-finals at Tokyo Olympics |url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/volleyball/beach/beach-volleyball-canada-advance-quarter-final-tokyo-2020-1.6125731 |access-date=August 2, 2021 |agency=CBC |publisher=CBC Sports |date=July 31, 2021}} In the quarter-final they faced the Latvian team Kravčenoka/Graudiņa, and were eliminated after losing two sets to one.{{cite news |title=Canada's Pavan, Humana-Paredes eliminated in Olympic beach volleyball quarter-finals

|url=https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/summer/volleyball/beach/canada-beach-volleyball-pavan-humana-paredes-bansley-wilkerson-quarter-finals-1.6127074 |access-date=August 3, 2021 |agency=CBC |publisher=CBC Sports |date=August 3, 2021}}

Bansley announced her retirement in early 2022 and has joined the Canadian beach volleyball coaching staff, primarily working with their Next Gen program.{{cite web |title=Two-time Olympian Heather Bansley announces retirement as a player |url=https://en.volleyballworld.com/news/two-time-olympian-heather-bansley-announces-retirement-as-a-player}}

In 2023, Sophie Bukovec reached out to Bansley to pair up. They competed in their first tournament together in Edmonton in July 2023. The duo would go on to win silver at the 2024 Recife Challenge, as part of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour.

In June 2024, Bukovec and Bansley qualified to compete for Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

{{FIVB}}
{{Beach Volleyball Database}}
{{Volleyball Canada|heather-bansley}}
{{Team Canada}}
{{Olympedia}}
{{Olympics.com}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20241006153151/https://www.olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/heather-bansley_1967347 Heather Bansley] at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, [https://paris2024.rtve.es/es/paris-2024/atleta/heather-bansley_1967347 alternate link])
{{Instagram}}