Spike Bullying: Get Involved in our 2020 Campaign!

Last year, viaSport conducted a survey on bullying among its provincial sport organizations—and the results were startling:

  • 94 per cent believe sport bullying is a serious problem that needs to be addressed
  • 55 per cent know of athletes who have dropped out of sport because of bullying
  • 44 per cent know of officials, coaches, managers, board members and other volunteers who left a sport due to bullying

Because of these issues in sport, Volleyball BC and Canuck Volleyball have teamed up to bring attention to bullying in sports by running our second annual Spike Bullying campaign this February.

During tournaments from Feb. 22 – Mar. 1, Volleyball BC referees and staff will wear pink Spike Bullying t-shirts at tournaments to spread awareness about bullying in sport. Teams playing in our tournaments are encouraged to take a stand against bullying by wearing pink and posting about #SpikeBullying on social media.


How you can Spike Bullying

Since showing support and respect for others is the easiest way to stand up to bullying, Volleyball BC will be running a contest on Instagram and Twitter throughout February. To enter, teams and players can post a photo or video that includes completing one of these simple sentences:

  • To me, respecting my teammates means …
  • To me, respecting coaches means …
  • To me, respecting referees means …
  • To me, respecting opposing players means …

When posting, please use the hashtags #SpikeBullying and #PinkShirtDay.

The grand prize is $300 that your volleyball club team can put towards a team-building activity.

The contest will run Feb. 22 – Mar. 1, with the winner being announced on Mar. 2. The winning post will be determined by Volleyball BC and will be judged on originality, messaging, team participation and impact.


Spike Bullying Tournament Line-up

In 2020, our Spike Bullying Campaign will take place at 11 events across four cities and reach more than 4,000 young athletes:

  • Feb. 22-23:
    13/14U Boys Super Spike, Kelowna
    15U Boys Super Series, Burnaby
    16U Boys Super Series, Langley
    17/18U Boys Super Series, Kelowna
    15U Girls A & AA Play Day, Nanaimo
    17/18U Girls A & AA Play Day, Nanaimo
  • Feb. 29 – Mar 1:
    12U Girls Super Spike, Burnaby
    12U Girls Super Spike, Nanaimo
    13U Girls A & AA Super Spike, Burnaby
    13U Girls A & AA Super Spike, Nanaimo
    14U Girls A & AA Super Spike, Nanaimo
    16U Girls A & AA Super Series, Kelowna

Wear pink, buy a t-shirt, or make a donation to Pink Shirt Day

Volleyball BC also supports the work being done by Pink Shirt Day which spreads awareness of bullying issues and raises funds to support programs that foster self-esteem in youth. We encourage teams and players to support Pink Shirt Day by making a donation or purchasing a pink shirt for $10 each (discounts available on orders of 10 or more). These shirts can be worn during warm-ups and at tournaments.

Other ways that teams, players and coaches can support anti-bullying are:

  • Pink hair dye
  • Wearing pink clothing
  • Pink shoe laces
  • Pink headbands
  • Post signage supporting Spike Bullying, standing up to bullying and Pink Shirt Day
  • Talk to your team about bullying and respect in sport

If you have any questions regarding our 2020 Spike Bullying campaign, or would like to discuss partnering with us on the campaign in some way, please reach out to [email protected].