To many Canadians, Hawaii is a desirable holiday destination.

For Stephen Maar, it will be home for the next four years, after the 17-year-old Aurora resident accepted an offer last week to attend the University of Hawaii on a full volleyball scholarship.

The 6-foot-8 outside hitter explained that his desire to be with a winning program swayed his decision to accept the Warriors’ offer ahead of several high-profile suitors.

“The fans are really good, but the main reason is that I think Hawaii has the best chance to win in the next three years,” the Grade 12 student at Bill Crothers Secondary School in Unionville said. “They’re a really young team this year. They’re starting six first-year players, so they’re getting lots of experience. I hope I get some playing time in my first year.”

Because Hawaii does not have pro sports teams from the so-called mainstream sports, the university’s teams are a hot ticket in Honolulu.

Maar, who plans to major in history, also received offers from the University of California Santa Barbara, Penn State, fourth-ranked Stanford and No. 1 ranked Brigham Young.

Maar was named MVP after helping the Aurora-based Storm Avalanche to the Volleyball Canada under-17 championship in May in Abbotsford, B.C. He was also a member of the Storm’s championship team at the under-14 level.

He is playing this season with the Toronto Crush at the under-18 level and recently returned from winning a major tournament in California.

Maar plans to play in the under-19 world beach volleyball championships in Cyprus and try out for Canada’s junior national indoor team.

Story by John Cudmore for TheStar.com.

2009 Canada Games Coaches
Canada Games is the highest profile and most prestigious event a province can compete in and is considered the Olympics for developing athletes. Of course a lot of work went into preparing our teams for Canada Games and the lion’s share of that work needed to be done by the coaches. These dedicated coaches spent numerous hours scouting athletes, organizing tryouts, creating training schedules, planning practices, and performing a million and one other tasks needed to run a successful program.  Throughout the spring and summer, our teams trained long hours together, lived together, ate residence food together, and shared a common goal, a gold medal!

All in all, Canada Games was a tremendous success for volleyball in our province. Ontario teams finished with a combined record of 23 wins and 3 loses and took home a record four medals. Winning a medal in both genders of both disciplines had never been accomplished in the history of Canada Games volleyball and is a testament to the efforts each one of our coaches made.

The 2009 Canada Games Coaches were as follows:

Men’s Beach Volleyball

• Jason Hubbard

Women’s Beach Volleyball

• Laura Inward

Women’s Indoor Volleyball

• Assistant Coach, Nick Tran
• Assistant Coach, Cathy O’Doherty
• Head Coach, Arif Nathoo

Men’s Indoor Volleyball

• Assistant Coach, Jeremy Hannay
• Assistant Coach, Jeff Chung
• Head Coach, Shayne White

Outgoing Board Members
The OVA would like to take this time to thank the outgoing Regional Presidents for their hard work and dedication over the past few years.

• Tom Sutton, Region 2 President 2009-2011
• Bob Mann, Region 3 President, 2008-2011
• Ed Turalinski, Region 5 President, 2009-2011

Mikasa Sports Canada
When one thinks of iconic brands in volleyball, Mikasa Sports, comes to mind. This is a brand synonymous with high performance excellence in sports, and volleyball is no exception. Mikasa is a tremendous partner of the OVA and is the official volleyball of the OVA’s Indoor and Beach Programs.  Mikasa Sports Canada’s National Sales and Marketing Manager, Brian Mills, was on hand to accept the Award on Mikasa’s behalf.

Royal Bank of Canda (RBC)
The OVA embarked on an exciting new partnership with RBC this past season.  RBC is an OVA Beach Tour sponsor and we look forward to expanding the partnership in years ahead.  RBC also demonstrates its backing of high performance volleyball with its support of the RBC Olympian Program which includes Ontario’s own Beach Volleyball athlete, Christian Redmann.  Christian was on hand to accept the Award on RBC’s behalf.

At this year’s Awards Banquet, two officials were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the sport:

Eric Lawlor

• For over 10 years, Eric has served as the National Officials Liaison with Volleyball Canada and has served on the OVA Beach Committee
• He has conducted and assisted in running local clinics to certify new beach officials and has been a mentor for all levels of officials over the years
• Eric has served as Referee Supervisor at numerous FIVB events (2006 Bermuda, 2011 Quebec City, 2011 Halifax) and has officiated at numerous OVA events as Mentor or Head Official and has worked as an Official or Referee Supervisor at Volleyball Canada Beach National Championships for over 10 years.

Lynn Watkins

• Lynn Watkins has been an official for over 20 years.
• During this time she has been and currently is the Region 4 Officials Chair and has been a member of the Provincial Officials Committee, which is responsible for overseeing officials’ development in the province of Ontario.
• In her role as the Regional Officials Chair, Lynn is responsible for the organization and development of Officiating Programs as well as the management and distribution of officiating assignments for volleyball with in her Region.
• She facilitates the delivery of local and provincial upgrade programs, while serving as a mentor for younger officials in her Region.  She actively seeks opportunities for top officials from her region to travel elsewhere in order to increase their exposure and experience.

Female Development Coach of the Year: Lorraine Facca, Storm VBC

• Lorraine started coaching while her daughter Louise first entered the OVA competitive stream.
• Lorraine values true sport and fair play and focuses on these two values in her every day practice and game play situation.
• Lorraine coached her 17U Girls B team and then moved with them for their 18U season. At 17U, they played equal playing time and everyone was happy and learned a lot from her and her co-coach Don Morton. In the second year with the girls, Lorraine asked them if they wanted to play equal playing time again and the vote was unanimous “yes”.  Lorraine decided that the team would play this way all season long, to further develop the girls playing skills. They played that way all season, including at the Ontario Championships where they not only had a great time, but they finished 2nd in Division 2 Tier 1!
• On top of her team coaching duties, Lorraine also runs Setters Clinics for the Storms younger athletes throughout certain stages of the season to further hone their skills.

Male Development Coach of the Year: Paul Langan – Hespeler Scorpions VBC

• For over 17 years, Paul has helped with various sports organizations in a variety of functions.  In 2010, his goal was simple when he started the Hespeler Scorpions Volleyball Club – get kids off the computer and have them physically active playing volleyball in a fun, safe, affordable environment.
• His MONSTER and SPIKES programs, are a fun way to teach young people about volleyball.   The clubs purpose is simple, to provide community based learning to young people about volleyball.
• The Scorpions follow and support the Volleyball Canada Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) Model and they use parents, local competitive high school and university players who are trained by OVA staff to help run their programs.
• In their first year of existence, the success of the program has been remarkable:
  • Their Grade 7/8 co-ed Developmental House League Program was the largest in the Waterloo Region, with plans to expand it to include Grade 9 in 2012.
  • Their OVA SPIKES Learn to Play Program was the largest program in Ontario – they had over 200 children playing in their house league!
• Their U15 competitive girl’s teams won four tournament medals including a OVA Provincial Division 2 Tier 1 Silver Medal in their first year.
• In the summer of 2011, the Scorpions delivered two camps for indoor and beach volleyball and have seven of their teams participating in the OVA Beach Tour circuit.  Their goal is to have a development program in place for the general public in 2012.
• On top of indoor and beach volleyball, Paul recognizes the importance of inclusiveness and is currently working with the OVA staff to deliver one of the first sitting volleyball house league programs in the province of Ontario.

Female Coach of the Year: Laura Inward

• She started her involvement with the Ontario Beach Provincial program in the summer of 2007 and continued through 2008 and 2009.
• In 2009, Laura was the Head Coach for Team Ontario at the Canada Games in Prince Edward Island. Her team of Caleigh Whitaker and Dianne Burrows won the bronze medal after a summer of consistent results and improvement. Whitaker is now a national team athlete within our beach program and Laura continues to serve as a mentor and trusted confidant as she continues her pursuit of sporting excellence.
• Laura coached, mentored and guided her team of Charlotte Sider and Alexandra Hudson to a 9th place finish at the FIVB World Junior Championships in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2011. Earlier in the summer she coached them to become U21 Provincial champions as well as U21 National champions.
  • These accomplishments in and of themselves are truly outstanding, but when one considers that Charlotte Sider was competing in Beach Volleyball for her first summer of competition, these feats really speak to Laura’s role as coach, mentor and friend.
• Laura has developed a unique holistic approach to coaching and mentoring young female athletes that makes her a positive role within our volleyball community. Laura considers the whole individual before developing an integrated program of physical training, mental preparation and emotional control. Her compassionate, understanding nature allows her to connect with her young female athletes and develop a relationship of trust and respect that fosters a productive learning environment.
• When Laura is not on the beach she is never far from the game she loves. During the indoor season, she volunteers her time at the University of Toronto as an assistant coach under the tutelage of Kristine Drakich. Laura is a former Varsity Blue herself and giving back to the program is another way that she positively affects the young women she coaches.
• As a mother of two young boys aged 3 and 7, Laura has proven to be a tireless and committed coach and mentor to the young women she takes under her care. The passion and compassion she has exhibited in her role makes her an incredibly positive role model.

Male Coach of the Year: Rob Fernley, Defensa

• Rob Fernley is the head of Defensa VBC and acted as the Head Coach between two teams in the past 2010/2011 season.
• Since the club began four years ago, Defensa teams have consistently competed in provincial championship matches and earned top place finishes across Ontario, Canada and in several tournaments in the United States. Some of their team highlights include:
  • Both teams winning the national championships
  • 18U won the provincial championships
  • 16U earned bronze at provincials
  • Both teams earned medals at all of the OVA tournaments throughout the season
• His coaching abilities have helped his players achieve:
  • 2 Defensa players receive the title of National MVP’s at the 2011 National Championship in the 18U and 16U division
  • For the past three years, consistently 2 or more Defensa players (in both 18U and 16U) recognized as OVA All-Stars at the Provincial Championship
  • Three players (one 18U and two 16U) received All-Star recognition at the 2011 National Championships
  • One player won the Evelyn Hollick Award at the 2011 Provincial Championships
  • 10 Defensa players to made the Provincial team in the past two years, where both times the MVP recipient of the NTCC was a member of Defensa
  • 6 players are members of the Provincial Beach volleyball team
  • An 18U player made the National B Team
• Outside of Defensa, Fernley:
  • Coaches the boys volleyball team at the local high school (Assumption SS in Burlington, ON)
  • Encourages athletes to train in the ADP development program for indoor and beach (ADP, Regionals, HPC and the Provincial Team) and organizes workshops for athletes to train at a higher level.

The 2011 Achievement Award Winners are:

Denis Levesque

• Denis has been coaching for over 15 years in the Golden Horseshoe region and has been an integral part of the development of female volleyball players between the ages of 12 to 17
• Since 2006, Denis has been part of the coaching staff of first the Mountain Athletic Club and most recently, the Mountain Volleyball Club (MVC) where he currently coaches the 15u team.
• Denis is heavily involved in the administration of the club as an executive member, Denis has run leadership sessions for club coaches and athletes, a job he also dedicates himself to in the summer at the Ministry of Education Leadership Camp (OELC) at Lake Couchiching.
• Denis has extended his coaching involvement beyond the MVC club system, coaching both junior and senior boys and girls at the elementary school where he has taught and coached for fifteen years.
• In addition, Denis often volunteers a portion of his summer assisting athletes at Madawaska Volleyball Camp or at the Elite Centers run by the Ontario Volleyball Association and has acted as coach for the regional team for Region 3.
• Denis is also an integral part of the developmental side of the Mountain Volleyball Club where he helps design and implement LTAD friendly curriculum that is used in both our house league and summer camp programs

Cathy O’Doherty

• Cathy has been coaching for over 26 and is recognized as a coach and leader of athletics not only at the High School level in Ottawa, but for the volleyball in the Province of Ontario.
• She is a founding member of the national Capital Volleyball Club, now known as Ottawa Fusion, and continues as a coach and board member.
• She spends countless hours counseling and advocating for players as they move on to post-secondary institutions. Her philosophy of coaching is not that much different than what she uses in her classroom — respect, dedication, teamwork and fair play.
• Cathy is a Learning Facilitator and runs Coaching courses for the OVA in the Ottawa Region.
• Cathy was also a member of the 2009 Canada Games Team Coaching staff, which won a silver medal at the Games in PEI.

Mike Russell

• Mike has assisted the OVA by hosting OVA Tournaments, Coaching Clinics and Officials clinics for many years and has been a part of the Region 5 Executive
• Mike was the Manager of the Boys Provincial Team in 2011
• He has helped to develop countless number of players to achieve higher levels of success in volleyball.
• Current Assistant Coach at Sheridan Men’s and former Head Coach of Sheridan’s women’s program, and the former Assistant at McMaster University
• Mike has hosted many OFSAA Championships, including the first ever all-in-one Boys event at one location in 2010 – creating one of the biggest events for boys volleyball that was truly province wide (A to AAAA)
• On top of his OVA volunteerism, Mike is currently coaching at Rick Hansen SS and Applewood ES

Beth Schulz

• Beth is the past president of Niagara Rapids VBC and currently serves as the registrar for the Club.
• She is currently coaching the 15U Black Niagara Rapids Girls Team for the 2011/12 season.
• Beth has set up and delivers SPIKES volleyball house league programs in St. Catharines and Niagara Falls for children in grades five and six and has even begun a mini-SPIKES program to deliver the fundamentals of volleyball skills to children in grades 1-4.
• On top of her duties with Niagara Rapids, Beth has assisted the OVA over the years by delivering SPIKES On the Road volleyball day programs throughout schools in Ontario as well as by coaching at Regional Team Training Centres and FUNdamentals Centres.

Andrew Robb

• Andrew is a National beach referee and an International Candidate for indoor volleyball.
• For the past six years, Andrew has also contributed to the sport of volleyball through his work as the Region 5 Officials’ Chair, as well as the Senior Assignor for Region 5.
• Andrew actively evaluates Regional Upgrade candidates as an assistant to the Regional Upgrade Program Chair and provides the candidates with valuable feedback to further develop and hone their officiating skills.
• As Region 5 ROC, Andrew also oversees the Provincial Mentorship Program and is responsible for assigning a mentor to each Provincial candidate and monitoring their progress each season.
• Final confirmation of Andrew’s promotion to International referee is expected from FIVB in early 2012.

John May

• John, the founder of Crush Volleyball, is currently the head coach of the Crush 18U Boys team.  Crush has won 10 National Indoor Championships and 8 Provincial Indoor Championships since it was founded 6 years ago. On the beach Crush athletes have won Provincial, National, and World Championships.
• Coached Mark Heese and John Child at the Olympics in 2004 and coached Child/Heese and Ahren Cadieux and Mark Heese on FIVB World Tour.
• John is a 3-Time OUA Champion as a player and a member of the York University Athletic Hall of Fame.  He has also coached the U of T Women’s Team to an OUA Title.

Yolanda MacKinnon

• Yolanda has developed the volleyball community at the grass roots level in Thunder Bay including starting an OVA SPIKES program.
• Yolanda has worked in many capacities with the OVA’s Athlete Development Programs helping to further develop athletes and coaches  in the Region 1 area and across Ontario.
• Yolanda is a former OVA Region 1 President

Kevin Hellyer

• Kevin is currently the head coach of the Durham Attack U17 Black female team, but has coached teams at the U13-17 level, achieving medal success at Provincial and National Championships.  Kevin is also the lead coach at the Durham Attack Summer Camp.
• Kevin has also been a member of the Region Coaching programs.  He has coached both at the Regional Games and the Ontario Summer Games, winning a gold medal at the 2008 Games.
• His ability to work collaboratively with others has allowed him to develop a number of coaches, while also developing his coaching.

The 2011 Recognition Award recipients are:

Chris Dunn – Durham Attack VBC

• He is presently a coach with the Durham Attack Volleyball Club and prior to that a member of the DRVC program.  He has worked with a number of age groups, but devoted much of his energy to building strong U13 and U14 programs, emphasizing the development of strong basic skills.  As both a teacher and club coach, he takes pride in developing athletes and providing them with the foundation for future success.
• In his years with the Durham Attack Volleyball Club, Chris has worked diligently to improve the experience for all athletes in our club.  It was his leadership that lead to a more “athlete friendly” tryout experience, encouraging all coaches to make individual contact with athletes and assist them in their growth with more contact and feedback.

Lorraine Facca  – Storm VBC

• Lorraine has been involved with Region 5 in some capacity, where she currently stands as the Secretary/Treasurer for the past 15+ years and is still active in volleyball
• During the 2010/11 OVA season, Lorraine made her way out of the gym to a board room, where she worked closely with the OVA’s Strategic Planning Committee to deliver the 2011-2015 OVA Strategic Plan
• In May 2011, tragedy struck the Facca family when Lorraine’s husband, Adrian Facca lost his battle with cancer. In his memory, Lorraine has spearheaded the Adrian Facca Leadership Fund to provide financial support to the Dalhousie University student-athletes on the men’s hockey and women’s volleyball teams.  The Adrian Facca Leadership Fund is an outstanding contribution towards the development of future leaders through varsity hockey, volleyball and scholastics at Dalhousie University.

Lawrence Flynn – Durham Attack VBC

• Presently he is the lead coach for the U14 boy’s team, but he has worked with a number of age groups, both as an assistant and a head coach.
• Lawrence joined Durham Attack when his son was an athlete, but has remained long after his son has left the sport.  He is eager to share his love of volleyball with others, but also embraces the opportunity to learn more about coaching and developing his skill.
• Lawrence is an ambassador for sitting volleyball and has been an inspiration to our club.  He has exposed our young athletes to another aspect of their sport and has encouraged partnerships between our club and the National team program.  His desire to have athletes of all abilities playing and enjoying volleyball together has been instrumental in our club’s recent grant and inclusion of sitting volleyball in our recreational programs.

Howie Grossinger – Storm VBC

• Howie has been coaching his OVA team, Storm Avalanche since they started in 2006 and have had  a very impressive track record:
  • In 2006, 12U Team winning the Ontario Championships
  • In 2008. won the 14U West Nationals
  • In 2009. Placed 3rd at 15U West Nationals
  • In 2010, placed 2nd at 16U West Nationals
  • In 2011, won gold at the 17U Nationals
• On top of OVA accomplishments, Howie is the owner of Camp Robinhood – a day a sports camps where children can further develop their athletic skills by selecting from a variety of sports that are offered each session and is owner of Madawaska Camp.

Ish Joseph, B-Fitt Thunderbolts

• Ish Joseph has had a long and very successful history of volunteer involvement and coaching, as well as promoting the sport of volleyball, both at the grassroots level, and the competitive OVA level.
• Ish is a well-known leader in the community who has often been lauded for championing no-cost programming for at-risk youth. He has worked with the Toronto Police Services to establish programs in areas plagued by violent crimes. For many of those young people, Ish’s programs have been their lifeline, helping them to stay positive, focused and hopeful about the future. He continues to be dedicated to helping youth empower themselves to make positive choices and become leaders in the community.
• Ish has coached the B-Fitt Thunderbolts 18U Boys team, 18U Girls Toronto Diamonds VB, has been the Elite training coach for the Scarborough Falcons VBC and Scarborough Titans VBC, and worked with Region 5 Beach teams since 1997

Denise Klenk

• Denise is a level 3 regional official and she currently works as an assignor for R5 for OVA youth indoor events and also assigns officials for the entire OVA Beach Tour each summer
• Denise is a respected official in both the indoor and beach game by both athletes and officials alike.
• Denise is also a mentor for young officials looking to upgrade their badge level – for indoor and beach officiating programs and is a role model for those involved in the sport of volleyball

Dave McAllister

• Provincial Men’s Team Head Coach 2011 & 2010
• Former Region 5 boys head coach
• High school coach at Rick Hansen  and won the OFSAA Leadership in School Sport Award in 2010
• Current Head Coach Sheridan College and a former Assistant Coach McMaster

Arif Nathoo - Eclipse

• A two time OUA Coach of the Year, Arif has been the head coach at York University and led the York Lions to 2009 OUA Provincial Championship. Prior to that, Arif coached at Ryerson University where he led the team to their first ever OUA playoff appearance, their first ever OUA medal and led Ryerson University to its only appearance at a CIS Volleyball championship.
• In the summer of 2009, Arif led the 2009 Ontario Provincial team to a silver medal at the Canada Games.
• In 2007, Arif coached the Ontario Provincial Team to a bronze medal at the National Tournament, and in 2005, coached the Region 5 team to a gold medal at the Ontario Regional Games.
• With the younger athletes, Arif was head coach of the Durham Attack 14U team and during the 2009-2010 season, Arif led the 14U team to an impressive season culmination with an OVA Ontario Provincial Championship and to a silver at the Canadian National East tournament.
• He continued coaching a young group of girls, and in 2011, won the Ontario Championships and Canadian National West Championship banners.
• Arif is a fully certified Level 3 Coach and promotes volleyball both within the Ismaili community and outside their community.

Karen Pak – Toronto Premier Youth VBC

• Karen has been involved with Team Ontario Beach as assistant coach between 2007-2009 and attended the U19 World Championships as an Assistant Beach Coach between 2009 and 2010.
• In 2011, Karen began the Toronto Premier Youth Volleyball Club running a 14U Girls team
• Outside of the OVA stream, Karen is a teacher and coach at Victoria Park CI and in 2010, she started the first ever annual Toronto District School Board Beach Volleyball Tournament. In 2011, she brought 81 junior and senior boys and girls beach teams down to Ashbridges Bay to compete in her day long tournament.

Mike  Richardson – Durham Attack VBC

• Mike is a coach with the Durham Attack Volleyball Club, working with the girl’s and boy’s programs, offering to assist or head coach if needed and has also worked with the Region Four Boys Summer Games program as an assistant coach.
• He is an eager participant in all coaching development session, embracing new opportunities to learn from others.
• For Mike, the needs of the athletes comes first and it is this belief that has seen him take on a variety of different coaching roles, all in order to better meet the needs of the athletes.
• Mike is always willing to lend a hand and assist wherever he is needed.    Mike is willing to volunteer to improve the club, assuming more than coaching roles if that is what is needed.

Meghan Boyle – MVC

• Meghan coaches at Mountain Volleyball Club in Hamilton, ON. She is currently the assistant coach with the 15U Girls team.

Linda Naccarato – Durham Attack VBC

• Linda is presently an assistant coach with the Durham Attack Volleyball Club at the U14 level, but she has worked with a number of age groups, both as an assistant and a head coach.
• Linda has stepped forward on a number of occasions to offer her services so that there will be teams for athletes to play.  She has carried this same attitude into the public school setting, working as a parent-coach, so that teams could be created at both the elementary and secondary level.
• She has mentored a number of young coaches, providing valuable leadership and a positive role model for their coaching development.  She is a constant positive source of inspiration and her desire to help athletes develop is evident in everything she does.

Rob Piccione - Durham Attack VBC

• Rob is presently a coach with the Durham Attack Volleyball Club and prior to that a member of the Titans program.  He has worked with a number of age groups, but devoted much of his energy to building strong U14 and U15 programs, emphasizing the development of strong basic skills.  As both a teacher and club coach, he takes pride in developing athletes and providing them with the foundation for future success.
• He has coaching certification in both the indoor and the beach programs and is committed to LTAD, working collaboratively with other coaches to develop more successful programs.
• He has mentored a number of young coaches, providing valuable leadership and a positive role model for their coaching development.

The six day tournament will take place from August 28 to September 2 and features a Main Draw of 32 teams for the first time as the competition for players under 21 continues to grow in both size and stature.

The 2011 edition of the tournament was deemed a great success, with over 14,000 fans traveling to the waterfront to take in the action, and those numbers are expected to grow again this year.

“I’m thrilled at having the chance to welcome some of the sports youngest and brightest athletes to Canadian shores yet again,” Volleyball Canada president Hugh Wong said after signing the agreement. “Last year’s event was a new milestone for us as a national federation and we’re obviously hoping to build on that further in 2012. It was so wonderful to see thousands of fans supporting the players in 2011 in what was a highlight for Canadian beach volleyball. I have little doubt that we’ll add to the experience come August next year.”

The FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch Junior World Championships are held annually at beach locations all over the world. Last year’s event was unique, with organizers creating a beach surface featuring 2,000 tonnes of sand as well as a temporary stadium.

Just like last year, Volleyball Canada will partner with Sports & Entertainment Atlantic, and President Derek Martin added that they look to build on last year’s edition.

“Last year’s tournament was a great success in so many ways and the overwhelming support we received from the community encouraged us to bring it back again” he said. “With an estimated economic impact of over $3 million dollars this is the type of International event that benefits all of Nova Scotia and Halifax should take pride in being awarded the unprecedented rights to host it two years in a row.”

FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission secretary Vicente Araujo explained the fact that the Swatch Junior World Championships is returning to Halifax says a lot about how well it was organized last year.

“The 2011 edition of the tournament was magnificent,” he added. “The platform created by both Volleyball Canada and Sports & Entertainment Atlantic for beach volleyball was exactly what we were looking for so I am excited to see how they aim to improve on it in 2012. It has been said many times that these players are the future of the sport and to have this raw talent matched with such a brilliant setting is a positive advert for beach volleyball.”

With sell-outs on the final three days of competition in 2011, the Swatch Junior World Championships were the must-see event in Halifax leading into the Labour Day weekend and Sports & Entertainment Atlantic is already working with government and corporate sponsors to ensure the 2012 event builds on that excitement.

Tickets for the 2012 event will go on sale on December 8, 2011 at 12:00pm Atlantic time through online ticket provider mytix and can be purchased online at www.sandjamhalifax.com or by phone at 902.496.4749. Ticket prices have been kept at the same reasonable prices as in 2011 with a Full Week Centre Court 6-day tournament pass for as low as $60 (plus HST and service fee) and GA tickets for as low as $5 a day. Single day tickets will be available at a later date if available.

Last year over 400 volunteers helped make the tournament a success and if you are interested in helping out at the 2012 event please also visit www.sandjamhalifax.com.

Story from the Volleyball Canada Website | Volleyball.ca

The Canadian pair equaled its best-ever international result achieved this past July at the World Tour stop in Quebec City. The showing should also help Bansley and Maloney inch their way up some more in the world rankings.  They are currently 29th.

On Saturday, the 18th seeded Bansley and Maloney lost to Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Hanson of the U.S., 21-19, 21-15. The American pair was upset in their very next match missing a berth in the semi by one win.

“(We are) disappointed with our loss, but thrilled with our seventh place result overall to close out the season,” tweeted Maloney. “Great tournament and season. Way to earn some big Olympic qualification points and put us in the main draw next year.”

Bansley and Maloney started the tournament Thursday going 1-1 in the double elimination format then strung together three consecutive wins on Friday through the losers bracket to stay in contention.

They emerged as Canada’s top international pair in 2011 posting four top-10 finishes on the World Tour circuit and placing 17th at the world championships in Rome.

Bansley and Maloney can gain an Olympic berth automatically if they are ranked in the top-16 in the world on June 16, 2012.

Story from the Volleyball Canada Website | Volleyball.ca

Bansley and Maloney, seeded 18th, defeated 15th seeds Satoko Urata and Takemi Nishibori of Japan 21-17, 21-12 in 34 minutes. In the second round they lost to second seeds Jennifer Kessy and April Ross, the 2009 world champions, 21-10, 21-14.

The Canadian pair must now proceed through the loser bracket and could potentially play as many as three matches on Friday.

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Christian Redmann among 37 athletes to join RBC Olympians program

RBC announced the names of 37 exceptional Canadian athletes, which includes beach volleyball star Christian Redmann of Toronto,  who will join the 2011/2012 RBC Olympians Program.

The RBC Olympians Program, which began in 2002, is a national initiative providing elite athletes an opportunity to gain career-oriented experience alongside a flexible work schedule, which gives them the time necessary to train and compete. The career skills and experiences gained from working at RBC will benefit these athletes at different stages of their careers.

Story from the Volleyball Canada Website | Volleyball.ca