Thousands of young volleyball players in Waterloo Region for OVA championships

Around 750 of Ontario’s best young volleyball players are in Waterloo Region for one of the biggest competitions of the year.

The Ontario Volleyball Association’s (OVA) Championships, for boys and girls under 18, kicked off Friday morning at RIM Park.

“Waterloo Region was actually the birthplace of our festival-style Ontario championships. We started in 2008 with only two divisions,” said the OVA’s Carrie Campbell.

The last time the event was held in the region was in 2022 and it keeps growing every year.

“We had a 21 per cent increase in membership this year for our indoor competitions,” Campbell explained.

This year’s tournament is so bit there will also be satellite games at Conestoga College in Kitchener.

Officials are also expecting 20,000 to possibly more than 30,000 people come through the region for the event.

Big tourism bucks

Explore Waterloo Region said it’s proud to help host the OVA championships.

“When we assessed the 2022 event, we estimated about $7 million in economic impact per weekend. So that's the total amount of money spent by visitors on hotels, food, transportation, which is really significant,” said Allister Scorgie from Explore Waterloo Region.

The parking lot at RIM Park is expected to be jam packed for the next few weekends. To help, shuttle busses will be taking parents from overflow lots nearby.

Grant River Transit is also doing its part by offering free rides for athletes, officials and coaches on competition days.

For the love of the game

Janelle Boyse, a 15-year-old athlete from Ingersoll, has been playing volleyball since she was only six. She now plays for the Stratford Stingers and said she’s proud to be with her teammates at provincials.

Her team won their first three games at RIM Park – including a game against a Waterloo team.

“We've played that team before and we lost so we have a lot of motivation,” Boyse explained.

Shawn Edwards, the Stingers coach, said the team has upped their game in recent months.

“It’s been a great team to coach,” he told CTV News.

Alice Drouindeck, from the Pumas Smashers, travelled from Ottawa to Waterloo.

“We’re all staying in a hotel together since we do live like six hours away,” she said.

Her team won gold last year at the Ontario championships. Since they’ve moved up a division, the team was taking it easy by playing a game between matches to lighten the mood.

“It’s fun to play games with my friends,” Drouindeck said.

The championships continue throughout April. After the five events in Waterloo Region, there will be two further events in Ottawa.