Throughout the Spring of 2015, Vanderhoof and neighbouring communities hosted several volleyball clinics for coaches, teachers, children, and youth.

Megan Knowles, secondary school teacher and volleyball coach at Nechako Valley Secondary School (NVSS), applied to host volleyball coaching workshops with the goal of building capacity in the community to start up a community volleyball program, and possibly a volleyball club.

Thanks to Knowles’ initiative, two professional development sessions for School District 91 teachers were delivered in Fraser Lake during a district-wide Pro-D day. One session taught elementary school teachers fun, volleyball-based games to help them introduce volleyball at younger ages. The second session covered volleyball skills and drills, and was aimed at high school teachers and coaches. Vanderhoof also hosted a NCCP Development Coach (formerly Technical Level 1) workshop that was open to the whole region.

As well, a number of school-based clinics were held in Vanderhoof. Athletes from the NVSS senior volleyball team along with their coach, Barb Ziler, were trained in how to teach Atomic volleyball to Grade 6 and 7 students so they can become coaches for a new community program in the Fall. As well, a Volleyball BC coach worked one-on-one with teachers and their classes from Evelyn Dickson and W. L. McLeod Elementary Schools for two full days.

“It’s a little too soon to say what the impact will be of this infusion of volleyball in Vanderhoof, but more students had a chance to try the sport, they had fun, learned a lot, and I think more kids want to play it,” said Ziler.

“This summer we have a Six Pack camp going on across the street from the high school, and there’s definitely more grade 6, 7, and 8 students signed up than we’ve had in previous years. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, especially in a small community like Vanderhoof!”

“We are still in early stages and trying to lay the groundwork,” explained Ziler, about the possibility of beginning a volleyball club in Vanderhoof. In addition to building up interest in the sport among youth, there is a need to gather support from the community and parents to take a lead on club organizing, and to secure gym space with the limited number of facilities available. Club season coincides with basketball season, and Vanderhoof only has two gymnasiums with roofs high enough for volleyball.

Knowles and Ziler will continue with their long-term vision of starting a volleyball club in mind. Their next steps in the Fall will be to build on the momentum from this Spring and deliver school-based Atomic volleyball programs in the local elementary schools and hosting mini-tournaments for grade 6 and 7 students. For this, they will enlist the help of their student athletes from the NVSS volleyball team and mentor them as program coaches. This shouldn’t be too difficult, as Paul Smith, the Volleyball BC coach who trained them expressed, “What a fantastic group of students to work with! They were so keen and eager to learn – I was so impressed by them!”

With enthusiastic coaches and a growing interest in the sport, it sounds like a new volleyball club in is on the horizon for Northern BC.

The coaching workshops delivered in Vanderhoof were part of Volleyball BC’s 50th Anniversary initiatives.