written by Nishaan Sodhi.
As the largest governing body for the sport of Volleyball in Canada, the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) is making generous efforts to nourish the growth of the sport in the province. In the past two months the OVA further cemented their efforts by joining with Volleyball Canada to name the country’s first Accredited Clubs. In conjunction, the two organizations officially recognized The Pakmen Volleyball Club, The Ottawa Mavericks Volleyball Club, and The Forest City Volleyball Club as three volleyball programs within Ontario, which have demonstrated a heightened level of commitment to promoting Volleyball and at the same time have achieved success on both the provincial and national level, amongst other criteria. We here at Pakmen Volleyball are excited to be named one of Canada’s first Accredited Clubs and are committed to continuing a level of excellence within all of our programs.
As Canada’s largest and most diverse volleyball club, Pakmen prides itself on providing opportunities to children of all ages and backgrounds. As a club, it provides a platform for children to get involved in the sport, harness their skills, and grow in a team environment. Based in Mississauga, Pakmen serves a demographic that would generally shy from the sport of volleyball, and lean more towards Basketball and Hockey. It quickly becomes evident that the more children are exposed to volleyball, the more they enjoy it.
“With Volleyball, the main thing is to get a lot of touches,” says Pakmen founder Kelly Smith.
“As kids immerse themselves in the sport at a young age, they have continuous repetitive practice of the right techniques. We often see the kids who were involved in Spikes and Champions League, growing up to be the ones who lead the rep teams to provincial and national titles.”
The Ontario Volleyball Association will award the Accreditation status annually to clubs who “demonstrate a commitment to excellence in several areas including coach, athlete and volunteer development, accountable governance, gender balance, and club capacity, among other criteria.”
There is no better time to be a Pakmen athlete than now. As Pakmen solidifies its spot as one of North America’s premier volleyball clubs, the on-court results continue to exemplify the hard work put in by its athletes, coaches, and volunteers. Former OUA coach of the year Orest Stanko has quickly led his under-16 men’s team to the top of the OVA rankings, whilst former German National Team Coach Lennard Krapp continues to provide specialized instruction our teams. Krapp has just signed on to coach with Pakmen on a full time basis.
The Accreditation Club status will remain with Pakmen, Forest City, and the Mavericks until the list is re-announced in 2015. The full Club Accreditation Criteria can be found here: http://www.ontariovolleyball.org/sites/default/files/Club%20Accreditation%20Criteria.pdf.
Pakmen is pleased to be recognized as an Accredited Club in Canada, and will continue to provide excellence to its athletes!