Airdronian and George Mac alumni Ben Saxton will be heading to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio to compete in beach volleyball.

The 27-year-old has been working hard for this for many years, following his father's footsteps to compete in the Games.

His father Don Saxton also competed in volleyball in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Saxton Sr. said he was very relieved to hear his son would be heading to Rio De Janeiro for the Games.

"In this case, it was more relief than anything because they'd been in the position to qualify for awhile and it was just a matter of time."

Saxton Jr. had grown up in Airdrie, attending George McDougall high school and competed on the volleyball team.

"He would've graduated about 2005. They won provincials one year when he was there."

Saxton Jr. had the opportunity to enhance his volleyball skills at his parents' Volleydome, in Calgary, where there are hardwood indoor courts and outdoor sand courts.

"I'm quite proud of what he's done. He's had to do a lot of stuff on his own, especially at the upper level, cause there's not really a system in place, at least not for Western Canadians," added Saxton Sr.

In terms of how Saxton Jr. is feeling about the Summer Games, his father said he isn't feeling too much pressure due to it being more spread out than most competitions.

"It's spread out over two weeks, whereas most of their tournaments are over 4 or 5 days. Other than that, he's playing a lot of the best teams in the world like he always does. I think there's more pressure in some ways but less pressure is some ways, too, because it's a nothing to lose kind of thing."

The Summer Games in Rio start on Friday, August 5th, taking place over the course of a couple of weeks before finishing up on August 21.