A two-sport athlete from Steinbach says the nerves have not yet set in for next month's Power Smart Manitoba Summer Games in Steinbach. The Games will be held August 7 to 13, attracting up to 1,800 participants.

Thirteen-year-old Justin Gudmundson will represent Eastman in both volleyball and baseball. The two sports do not overlap as baseball is held in Phase 1 (August 7 to 10), while volleyball is in Phase 2 (August 11 to 13).

Gudmundson says these are his favourite two sports and in each case, he fell in love with them as a youngster while watching his older brothers play. His volleyball career started around grade six.

"I thought it looked really cool," he recalls. "It was really fun to me, so I just took it from there."

(Justin Gudmundson wearing blue #12 at Nationals this year)Gudmundson plays right side. He admits being a good server and says he can hit well too because he has good power. The teenager broke in with Clearspring Middle School, before playing for the Providence Pilots this last year. It was with the Pilots he won a provincial banner, before winning a silver medal at the National Championship.

He says it was very exciting to qualify for the Eastman volleyball team. Gudmundson says there were two tryouts, he gave it his best and now he has the opportunity to compete at the Summer Games with a bunch of friends.

"I think that we can pull off the gold medal because we have the potential to if we play our best," thinks Gudmundson.

Gudmundson says in terms of team makeup, the Eastman squad will have most of the same players as their provincial winning Pilots team. And he says many of the players they see at the Games, he will have played against before.

When it comes to baseball, there too, Gudmundson says he watched his brothers play and says he has spent a lot of time playing ball with his family over the years. He grew up a fan of former New York Yankee great, Derek Jeter and believes his own strength is his flexibility in being able to play more than three positions. The thirteen-year-old plays primarily first base or pitcher and admits being a good hitter.

Gudmundson is hoping he can bring home a gold medal in baseball too.

"I want to try and win," he says. "I just want to have fun playing the game."

Though volleyball and baseball are his two favourite sports, Gudmundson says it is baseball he prefers. His goal is to play AAA ball next year and hopefully crack the SRSS Sabres team. After high school, he says he may even try out for college ball.

Being a two-sport athlete at the Summer Games means Gudmundson must balance his practice schedule between volleyball and baseball in the weeks leading up. He says volleyball practices happen twice per week and he usually has two baseball practices each week as well. On top of that, he is trying to hit the batting cages each week and also play some volleyball with family and friends.

He says competing in two sports at the Games will be special.

"It means a lot," he says. "I'm honoured to have made both the teams."

Gudmundson says he expects family and friends to come out to watch him play and says though he is not nervous yet, that might come.

"Maybe on the week of, I'll probably be a bit nervous, but right now I'm not really," he says. "I've played lots before. There will be good competition, so that's nerve-wracking."