Pakmen Volleyball Club began in 2002 with a single team, founded by middle school teacher, Kelly Smith, who had never played volleyball before. After coaching his grade 8 school team, his players asked if they could keep playing through the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA).

Despite being complete newcomers to competitive volleyball, this group of first-year players shocked everyone by winning the Ontario Provincial Championship in their very first season. From that moment on, they went on to capture a major title every single year they competed — culminating in the U18 Canadian National Championship in their final year.

That original team was Canada’s first multicultural youth volleyball program. They wore simple $8 t-shirts, once slept in sleeping bags on a classroom floor during an out of town tournament, and ran bottle drives to help fund their travels. Yet their incredible diversity, fierce intensity, and pure love for the game quickly turned heads. Their success and spirit inspired students at their own school and young athletes across the province. Suddenly, volleyball was the sport everyone wanted to play.

What began as one team rapidly grew into Canada’s largest volleyball club, now serving thousands of athletes of all ages and skill levels. Pakmen’s rich diversity continues to attract players from across the GTA.

Now recognized as Canada’s most accomplished club at both the provincial and national levels, Pakmen stands as living proof that together, we are better.