New CBS volleyball club charts course for growth at first AGM

By Chris Lewis | Vol. 32 No. 16 (July 3 2019)

Following their first annual general meeting last month, the Conception Bay South Volleyball Club has high hopes for the future.

The group is only about a year old, young when compared to other sports clubs in the community, but it has seen a lot of progress since its inception.
Club founder Dave Lahey, who was elected treasurer at the AGM, said the event turned out even better than what he was hoping for, with more people in attendance than he was expecting.

Perhaps the most important thing to come out of it was a full slate of executives to help ensure things run smoothly in the coming year. As well, sub-committees have been set up to help with the individual leagues. These changes are set to take place this coming fall, when the season picks back up again.

This is a big difference from last year, which saw all work being carried out by only several people, according to Lahey.

Despite that, the club’s teams saw significant success in the tournaments they took part in. Two of the club’s high performance teams travelled to Edmonton in May, where they participated in the Volleyball Canada Nationals. One team finished in tier four, following a tight match in the quarter-final, and the other team finished in tier one of division two, losing out in their third set at 15-12.

“It was a good beginning year, a good learning year. We had a lot more interest, a lot more people, than what we were expecting. We grew crazy amounts from fall to winter – there were a few growing pains of course,” said Jillian Lahey, the association’s youth coordinator.

She noted that the adult league had five teams – two that came to the club already combined as teams, with the other three teams composed of individuals who had shown up on their own.

“That was challenging, because you’ve got people who haven’t played in 20-years, some who have never played at all, and then the complete opposite as well,” she said. “It was just completely different abilities.”

In order to remedy some of these issues, the club moved to a new area with double courts – splitting the club into rec and competitive divisions, with four teams in each in the winter-spring season.

“That’s how much it had grown,” Dave said. “And, it’s going to grow even more in the fall. Now that’s it’s on the go, I’m after being approached plenty of times.”

Jillian echoed these thoughts noting that some people drove in from the east end of St. John’s to take part in the AGM.

“People are interested in the club, and they’re coming out to see what they can do to help out and get involved, so that’s great,” she said.

Moving forward, the club hopes to start the new season in early September, with Dave anticipating even more players and teams this time around.

He noted one particular goal the club had it first year was to attract more youth players. Originally, the club was utilising the gymnasium at St. Edward’s in Kelligrews. The size of this school allowed for approximately 17-18 youth players, but any more than that would see the gym filled too much, hence the move to Admiral’s Academy, which allows for double courts, ultimately making room for even more players.

Jillian, who is a school teacher, said she often sees children who don’t want to play hockey and basketball and other well-established sports, and volleyball may be a good alternative for them.

“Frank Roberts, for example, hasn’t had a volleyball team for boys in a long time,” she said. “We thought that was sad. I remember one little guy who used to coach with his dad because there was never a team for him. His dad tried, but couldn’t get the interest, they couldn’t compete with hockey and the other big ones. It’s a sin, because you see all these kids who want to play, but aren’t given the chance. So, we want to give these kids a chance to play. That’s our thing. We’re not there saying ‘We only want the all-stars,’ that’s not our youth program at all. We want people of all abilities – especially to give children who can’t play in their school, to get them on board, and then they get to find their own sense of community within the sport.”

Jillian echoed these thoughts noting that some people drove in from the east end of St. John’s to take part in the AGM.

“People are interested in the club, and they’re coming out to see what they can do to help out and get involved, so that’s great,” she said.

Moving forward, the club hopes to start the new season in early September, with Dave anticipating even more players and teams this time around.

He noted one particular goal the club had it first year was to attract more youth players. Originally, the club was utilising the gymnasium at St. Edward’s in Kelligrews. The size of this school allowed for approximately 17-18 youth players, but any more than that would see the gym filled too much, hence the move to Admiral’s Academy, which allows for double courts, ultimately making room for even more players.

Jillian, who is a school teacher, said she often sees children who don’t want to play hockey and basketball and other well-established sports, and volleyball may be a good alternative for them.

“Frank Roberts, for example, hasn’t had a volleyball team for boys in a long time,” she said. “We thought that was sad. I remember one little guy who used to coach with his dad because there was never a team for him. His dad tried, but couldn’t get the interest, they couldn’t compete with hockey and the other big ones. It’s a sin, because you see all these kids who want to play, but aren’t given the chance. So, we want to give these kids a chance to play. That’s our thing. We’re not there saying ‘We only want the all-stars,’ that’s not our youth program at all. We want people of all abilities – especially to give children who can’t play in their school, to get them on board, and then they get to find their own sense of community within the sport.”