The Future Looks Bright for Beach Volleyball in Canada

TORONTO, Canada, January 29, 2013 - The best technical leaders in beach volleyball gathered recently in Toronto to take part in Volleyball Canada’s first ever ‘Volleyball in Canada Beach Summit.’ A total of 40 participants took part in the two days of sessions, including Technical Directors and Executive Directors from each province and territory as well as athletes, referees, club representatives, school sport representatives and coaches.

The objectives of the summit were to discuss best practices from a local, provincial and national level as well as identify the top priorities to develop beach volleyball in Canada. Some of the topics that were tackled through the sessions included: addressing the gaps, national team systems and future direction, provincial and club best practices, facility development, provincial team strategies, Canadian system development, a complete competition review and revised LTAD.

Volleyball Canada’s recently hired Beach National Team Head Coach, Steve Anderson staged a popular session which focused on his extensive experience and best practices in building beach volleyball high performance programs. As a four time Olympic coach, and an Olympic Bronze and Gold medal coach (1996 and 2000), Steve has worked with athletes, coaches and National Sport Organizations around the world, including: USA, Australia, Indonesia, Great Britain, Japan, Costa Rica, Switzerland, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Denmark, Angola, Aland, France and Canada.

The Summit also featured special guest Ali Wood Lamberson, Director of International and High Performance Beach Programs for USA Volleyball who spoke on “Building a strong system” which described some of the key building blocks and initiatives USA Volleyball developed to become a powerhouse in beach volleyball in the world.

The summit concluded with discussions on how to move forward on key development issues, including identifying the key building blocks and potential action plans needed to achieve success.

“After taking part in this Summit, it is clear that the future is bright for beach volleyball,” stated VC President Hugh Wong. “With the experienced leadership that we have in place, collaboration among key partners and now the building blocks that were established through this Summit, we expect beach volleyball in Canada to rise again on the world stage.”