Women’s national volleyball team heading to Richmond, B.C.

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This article was published 01/02/2016 (3559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AFTER a quarter-century in Winnipeg, the Canadian national women’s volleyball team is packing its bags and heading for the coast.

When it goes, it will close a Manitoba chapter that saw the province host top international tournaments, Canada Cups, and even an Olympic run.

Instead, starting in early 2017 the Team Canada women will play out of Richmond, B.C. A formal announcement is expected there this morning.

It’s a disappointing twist for Volleyball Manitoba, which spearheaded a bid to keep the team in Winnipeg. That plan would have seen Team Canada move to Sport Manitoba’s new Sport For Life Fieldhouse, which is slated to open in the Exchange District next spring. The team is currently based at the University of Manitoba.

The last time Volleyball Canada opened bids for the team was in 2008, when Winnipeg was also home to the national men’s program. In that round, the national organizing body elected to move the men to Quebec, but kept the Team Canada women here with an eight-year commitment.

This time around, after an 18-month process and a spirited campaign from Volleyball B.C., Volleyball Canada elected to relocate the team to the Richmond Olympic Oval. Though it wasn’t the news Volleyball Manitoba executive director John Blacher hoped for, he thinks it does not reflect on the strength of Winnipeg’s bid.

After all, the national women’s team has been relatively stagnant at the international level, since last qualifying for the Olympics in 1996.

At the time, that run was storied. In a release Monday, former national team setter and Steinbach product Michelle Sawatzky remembered that era for gyms packed with fans.

“Our dream came true here in Winnipeg,” she said. “The support from the entire volleyball community and beyond was second to none.”

But the team hasn’t returned to the Olympics since. The last time it qualified for a World Cup was in 1995, and its results have remained more or less static at other major international tournaments, including the Pan-Am Games and the NORCECA continental championship.

“I think in the end there was just a strong enough appetite for change,” Blacher said. “The qualification for Atlanta in 1996 was the pinnacle, but 2000 fell a little bit short… I think that was part of it, just seeing if a change in environment will provide some kind of incentive in terms of performance.”

Volleyball Canada originally planned to announce the winner of the bidding process in September 2015, but according to Blacher delayed it in order to keep focus on the team’s Olympic push. But Team Canada finished fourth at the NORCECA qualifying tournament in Nebraska earlier this month, and will not compete in Rio.

Instead, the Team Canada women will resume training in Winnipeg in upcoming weeks, with a full training camp slated for May. The team, which includes Manitobans Lisa Barclay and Tabitha Love, will play out the international season in Winnipeg before preparing to transition to Richmond.

On one hand, that means Winnipeg will lose out on some of the key events generated by the team’s presence, including international tournaments and exhibition matches. Team Canada’s time in Winnipeg, Blacher noted, was supported by hundreds of volunteers and boosters.

“If you look at other national sport organizations across the country, the situation we’ve had in Winnipeg has been the envy, in addition to what the national sport organization provides,” he said. “I really do want to express appreciation to those individuals and groups… That’s what made Winnipeg their home.”

On the bright side, one of the most popular support efforts will go on. For 15 years, the Super Spike beach volleyball tournament has been rocking every summer, raising cash for the Team Canada women. This year, the volleyball bonanza is set to pass the $1-million mark in terms of funds raised for the program.

Though the national team is leaving, fear not — Super Spike will most definitely go on. Though plans are not yet finalized, Super Spike co-ordinator Greg Paseshnik said starting in 2017, the event will shift focus to raising cash for local non-profits — still with a volleyball theme, he added.

“The good news is that Super Spike will continue,” Paseshnik said. “The even better news is, we’ll be evolving. This is the 15th anniversary, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. We kind of planned for an evolution like this if a national team ever left, and what direction Super Spike would go at that point.”

 

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca