Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summe ...

in Canada dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the sport is played at various levels of competition throughout the country.

History

was invented in the United States in 1895 and made its first appearance in Canada in 1900 when an

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

branch of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

included it in its schedule. The sport caught on and soon spread to YMCAs in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anchor ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

. These centers conducted various tournaments, which were, for a long time, the only organized manifestations of the sport in Canada. While the sport spread throughout the United States, Russia and Asia before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighti ...

, it lay relatively dormant in Canada. With the creation of the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) shortly after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the sport gained international recognition. Canada joined the FIVB in 1953, the same year the Canadian Volleyball Association was founded. Gordon Odell served as interim president before Wes McVicar took over as the association's first president. The current president, Dave Carey, oversees an organization of over 80,000 members. Renamed Volleyball Canada (VC), the association has its headquarters in

. When founded, VC was divided into three regions: Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal. Today, the regions are drawn along provincial/territorial lines and take in the whole of Canada. Canada's first international experience in the sport took place in 1959 at the Pan-American Games in Chicago. Today, the Canadian teams strive to qualify for all of the international tournaments for which they are eligible. Since 1976, both the Men's and Women's indoor National Teams have participated in the Olympic Games and the World Championships on several occasions. The best result for both the Men's and Women's teams was achieved at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles where they finished 4th and 8th respectively. In 1998, Volleyball Canada became the umbrella organization for the national disabled volleyball program, a program that has had continued success since this partnership. The National Men's Standing Disabled Volleyball Team brought home Volleyball Canada's first gold medal at the 2002 World Championships in Poland, and went on to defend its title in 2004.

Major volleyball events

*1895 - William G. Morgan invented volleyball *1947 - The FIVB (Fédération International de Volley-Ball) is founded *1949 - Prague, First Men's World Championship *1952 - Moscow, First Women's World Championship *1953 - First Canadian Championship *1959 - Canadian Men's National Volleyball Team first participates in International Competition (Pan Am Games) *1964 - Tokyo, First Olympic titles are awarded to Japan (Women's) and USSR (Men's) *1968 - Canada and USA join the Central American and Caribbean Zone, which thereafter becomes known as NORCECA *1972 - First international medal won by the Canadian Men's Team by placing third at the NORCECA Championship in Mexico *1976 - Canada hosts Montreal Olympic Games *1977 - First Junior Men's and Women's World Championships *1977 - Canada's Men's Team wins bronze medal at the Pan Am Games – first major game medal *1980 - 1st Gold Medal won by Canada internationally - NORCECA Junior's - Women (Calgary, Canada) *1983 - Canada hosts Universiade Games in Edmonton. Canadian men qualify for 1984 Olympics by defeating Cuba *1984 - Canadian men finish fourth at Los Angeles Olympic Games *1990 - FIVB introduces the World League *1991 - Canadian Men participate for the first time in the World League *1991 - Canada hosts NORCECA Championships in Regina and Team Canada Men qualifies for 1992 Olympics *1996 - Canada hosts NORCECA Olympic qualifiers for Men and Women *1996 - Team Canada Women participate in Atlanta Olympics *1996 - Beach Volleyball debuts as a full medal sport in Atlanta Olympic Games *1996 - Canadians John Child and Mark Heese win bronze medal for beach volleyball in Atlanta Olympics *1998 - Canadian Men's Junior National Team wins at NORCECA to qualify for Junior World Championships *1999 - Canada returns to Men's World League and plays in it for the 1999 and 2000 seasons *1999 - Canada hosts Women's World Junior Championships in Saskatoon/Edmonton *1999 - Canada wins the bronze medal for Men's Indoor and the gold medal for Men's Beach (

Conrad Leinemann Conrad Leinemann (born April 2, 1971 in Kelowna, British Columbia) is a male former beach volleyball player from Canada who won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba, partnering ...

/ Jody Holden) at the *1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg *1999 - New Rules of the game *2000 - Canada's Men's Standing Disabled team wins silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games *2002 - Canada's Men's and Women's Indoor National Teams qualify for World Championships *2002 - Canada's Men's Standing Disabled team wins gold medal at the 2002 World Disabled Volleyball Championships World Organization Volleyball for Disabled

References

External links

Volleyball Canada
{{Sport in Canada

History

Major volleyball events

See also

References

External links