Imagine the 91原创 91原创 facing off against the Vancouver Canucks or the 91原创 Rams playing the Green Bay Packers. Maybe the Trinity Western Spartans soccer team up against Manchester United or the basketball team hitting the hardwood against the Los Angeles Lakers. Or the 91原创 Blaze taking on the New York Yankees.

While these local 91原创 teams do feature some top-level athletes, that is nothing compared to playing professional athletes.

And this is what awaits the Trinity Western men鈥檚 volleyball team.

鈥淲e go in with eyes wide open,鈥� said Spartans coach Ben Josephson.

The Spartans leave for Doha, Qatar tomorrow (Oct. 5) where they will represent Canada at the FIVB club world volleyball championships.

They were chosen by NORCECA (North America, Central America and Caribbean) to represent the region at the eight-team tournament, which features the world鈥檚 best club teams, including the two-time defending champions Trentino from Italy and the Russian champion Zenit Kazan.

鈥淭hese are the best players in the world,鈥� Josephson said.

鈥淭hese are the guys we watch on YouTube, the guys they model their games after.

鈥淭o get the chance to be on the same floor as them, play against their heroes, is an awesome learning experience for us.鈥�

The players do not have any illusions of pulling off a Cinderella upset, or of having their confidence hurt by showing badly.

鈥淲e are not really concerned about having our confidence shattered,鈥� said Marc Howatson. 鈥淚t is just a good chance to see what the best players in the world are like, what we can strive for.鈥�

The team will focus on improvement and learning.

鈥淭hey are physically and experience-wise just way better than us,鈥� Howatson said.

鈥淲e just go in worrying about our own side of the net and work on things we need to work on.鈥�

The chance to attend the tournament came out of the blue.

With no pro teams in North America, last year the Americans sent a squad of their full-time national training centre players.

This year, that opportunity was given to the Canadians. But with the national team players in Mexico for the Pan American Games, Trinity Westen was given the opportunity to attend as the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sport national champions.

鈥淭he stars aligned perfectly for this opportunity so we are hoping to make the most of it,鈥� Josephson said.

The Spartans are not going into the tournament with any grand illusions of knocking off the world鈥檚 best.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 have any expectations; we know we are out-matched badly,鈥� the coach said.

鈥淲e are hoping to get double figures every set. If we get to 10 points, we are holding our own.鈥�

The team will use this as a learning experience.

鈥淲e hope this will set the standard for us for how to train when we get back,鈥� Josephson said. 鈥淥nce they see what the world鈥檚 best players look like, now we know how far we have to go to push towards that.鈥�

The world championships run from Oct. 8-14.

Following the team鈥檚 return, they will prepare for the start of the Canada West regular season, which opens Oct. 28.