The date was June 19, 2004. It was Emmanuel Denguessi’s 25th birthday.

As a member of the Cameroon army’s club volleyball team, he was in Kingston, Ontario that day, playing in an international tournament.

Following the final game of the event, Denguessi slipped away from the gym carrying only a small duffel bag. Inside was a T-shirt, shorts, and a track suit he’d obtained in trade from a member of the Cuban national team.

Denguessi jogged to a gas station, where he called a cab to take him to a bus depot. There, he purchased a ticket to Montreal.

The penalty for defecting from the Cameroon army was 10 years in jail.

He did not know a single person in Canada.

Only an unshakeable conviction that life would be better got him on that bus, and a ride into a new future.

* * *

When Denguessi (pronounced den-GESS-ee) arrived at Columbia Bible College this fall, it didn’t take long for Bearcats men’s volleyball coach Rocky Olfert to realize he had a special player on his hands.

During CBC’s annual alumni volleyball game on Oct. 3, an errant Bearcat pass sent the ball arcing away from the net, well out of play beyond the baseline.

In a spot where most players would simply bump it backward, the 5’10” Denguessi managed to get under the ball and set up a front-row attack.

The Bearcats won the point, and Olfert couldn’t believe what he’d just seen.

“He does some crazy stuff on the court,” the CBC coach marvelled. “He’s set balls that I’ve never seen before. He can be sideways or backwards or whatever.”

* * *

Denguessi has been honing his remarkable court sense since he was a youngster growing up in Cameroon. His older brothers played on a municipal club team in Yaoundé, the nation’s capital, and they brought the volleyballs home with them because the team didn’t have a facility to store equipment.

“I remember taking a ball and playing with it against a wall when I was three or four years old,” Denguessi recalled with a smile. “I played volleyball like kids here might play Playstation or hockey.”

By the time he was 15, Denguessi was drawing a regular salary on a semi-pro club team. At age 18, he and a couple of his friends signed on with the Cameroon army. Denguessi didn’t carry a gun – he played volleyball full-time, and the army club had the money to send him to tournaments throughout continental Africa.

Denguessi became a celebrity when he helped the Cameroon men’s national team win the African Nation’s Cup in 2001. People recognized him when he walked down the street, and the president bestowed honorific titles on him and his teammates, similar to knighthood in England.

In 2003, Denguessi was voted the top setter at the All-African Games, but he was uncertain about his future.

“I always had the glory you can have from sport. But there was something inside me that I missed.”

* * *

While Cameroon is technically a democracy, Freedom House – an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. – rates Cameroon as “not free” based on civil liberties and political rights.

President Paul Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party have held power for 27 years, and though they’ve held multi-party elections since 1992, the results have often been condemned by international observers.

When Denguessi signed on with the army in 1998, he had done so with the understanding that he’d have the option of leaving after three years.

That turned out not to be the case.

Denguessi pondered the notion of indefinite army duty after his volleyball career was over, and it was not an appealing prospect. Corruption was woven into the culture of the Cameroonian army.

“I reflected on what my life would be like in 10 years. Do I want to be a good person, or do I want to be in the military and be a bad person?”

That internal tension culminated in Denguessi’s decision to get on the bus to Montreal in 2004. He wrestled daily with the idea during the two-week tournament, not deciding until the day he left the team in Kingston.

Denguessi’s refugee claim was accepted by the Canadian government, and in 2007 he headed westward to attend Capilano College in an effort to improve his English (his first language is French). He played one season for the Capilano Blues volleyball team, earning B.C. Colleges Athletic Association (BCCAA) rookie of the year honours.

Denguessi arrived at Columbia Bible College this fall and enrolled in the counselling program, with the long-term goal of serving in Christian ministry. The 30-year-old is currently a permanent resident of Canada, and he’s working on his Canadian citizenship – a status which would allow him to travel back to Cameroon without the threat of jail time.

* * *

With Denguessi at the controls of the offence, the Bearcats have been the surprise of the BCCAA this season. The CBC men’s volleyball squad missed the playoffs last year, but they currently boast a 6-1 record and hold down the No. 11 spot in the national rankings.

Denguessi, for his part, has rediscovered his passion for the sport. In Cameroon, the joy leaked out of his game as he worried about wins and losses, and maintaining his high-profile role on the team.

“Here (at CBC) I’ve discovered how to play volleyball because it’s a good game – how to celebrate and enjoy the sport.

“The person I am right now is better than the person I was five years ago.”