Sponsored Athletes

Canada has had incredible success on the international stage, but will that continue with the next generation? Once athletes like Melissa Humana-Parades, Sarah Pavan, and Brandie Wilkerson who are in their 30s retire, will there be anyone to pick up where they left off?

With the opening of The Beach YYC and the reopening of the Volleydome, Calgary now has an opportunity for beach athletes to train year-round enabling them to compete with Americans who live in warmer climates.

University-age Athletes

American Universities want their programs to win now but they also have a responsibility to develop US-based athletes for the future. For those of you who don’t actively follow The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP), many of their tournaments are being won by current or recent university athletes, most notably:

• The Canadian Macnamara twins – Two-time NCAA champions with multiple podia finishes in international competitions.
• Tina Graudina – Senior at USC who placed 4th at the 2020 Olympics.
• Kristen Nuss and Taryn Kloth – 2021 graduates from LSU who have won 3 of the first 7 pro events they have entered. 
• Canadian Sophie Bukovec – Recent graduate who finished second at the 2022 World Championships.

We can see the success that top programs like USC, LSU and UCLA are having on American and international tours.

If we want Canada to continue to be relevant in the volleyball world, Canadian athletes need the same opportunities as Americans to train and compete with the sport’s top coaches and athletes.

Due to our Canadian climate and the limited resources available (ie: indoor beach facilities), the emphasis is on hard court volleyball, making financial support extremely limited for our beach volleyball athletes. NCAA Beach volleyball programs are allocated only 6 full scholarships to be shared amongst 16-20 players. Most Canadians can’t afford the 50-70k tuition to attend the top volleyball schools. Not to mention, as international students, Canadians are already required to pay tuition 2-3 times more than in-state athletes.

In 2024, we’ll have only 4 NCAA Beach Volleyball athletes from Alberta, including Jordan Brown (3rd in Nationals and Class of 2024 Hawaii, and the first Alberta athlete to go exclusively to Beach Volleyball prior to high school).

Many players who could have a great deal of success on the beach, instead play hardcourt volleyball due to the short summer season, but in large part due to the unavailability of scholarships to top NCAA Programs.

Adult Athletes:

Ben Saxton (2016 Canadian Olympian for Beach Volleyball) started the semi-pro league called the National Beach Volleyball League (NBVL) in Calgary in 2020. Starting with 4 teams, the league has grown to 8 in just 2 years operating in two cities – Vancouver and Calgary. The League also ran a smaller NBVL test league in Toronto just prior to the start of the Pandemic. The NBVL expects to expand to Edmonton this summer to continue the growth and development of beach Canadian volleyball athletes.
This league has allowed our top athletes to continue to play high-level beach volleyball without the unbearable expenses of travelling to other countries. The success of the league has shown that with the right environment, beach volleyball can flourish in Alberta. Many of its athletes have competed internationally and are planning to do so again with the right support from our community.

The NBVL has only been able to operate due to the availability of high-quality beach volleyball facilities in the host cities, and with the support of the athletes and small businesses that have supported it.