From The Post - August 13th. 2010
After 17 years of being a girls only volleyball club, Burlington Blaze will field boys teams for September 2010.
Blaze Founder and President, Andy Nicholson, admits that Blaze has been thinking about adding a boys programme for several years. The Club has been approached by numerous elementary and secondary school coaches urging them to provide a competitive venue for their male players, and Blaze has had inquiries from as far away as Brantford, St. Catharines and Mississauga from boys looking for a Club team. Opportunities are limited for boys volleyball in Ontario, with only 29 of the 81 OVA registered Clubs offering boys programmes. Coaches for male teams are scarce as well, and Nicholson admits that Blaze did not have anyone within their coaching ranks who was willing to start a boys competitive programme for Burlington.
All changed this summer, with the offer by Burlington coach Stuart Hooper, to bring a boys programme into Blaze. Hooper has extensive experience in male volleyball, first as a player at the youth OVA Club level, and as a college player. And, he has a vast coaching resume, which includes a NCCP Level II Certification, secondary school coaching, the spikes programme through the YMCA, Club level coaching with the West Side Volleyball Club, and 5 years as a coach of the Sheridan College Bruins. This is will be a huge advantage to the new Blaze programme, comments Nicholson, because Stuart has worked extensively at so many levels of the sport. We are lucky to have him join our Club.
Experience in boys volleyball has been slowly growing within the Blaze coaching ranks as well. Mohawk Men's Coach, Matt Schnarr, along with his Mohawk Assistant Coaches Steve Pawelczyk and Chris Davidson will enter their 3rd year of working with the Blaze girls teams this September. Returning to Burlington after a Professional Volleyball Career in Portugal, former National player and CCAA Player of the Year, Joey Martins, will come back to Blaze as Head Coach of the 16U girls team, the National Silver Medallists. Teresa Vizarri, former National and College setter, who is one of only 15 women in Canada with a ranking of National Level Official, will be working with the Senior Blaze setters in the coming year. And, Laura Cooke, who will take on the role of Blaze Technical Director in September, has coached boys teams to SOSSA and OFSAA medals, as well as working extensively at the Provincial Team Levels.
What will make this programme successful, comments Nicholson, is the fact that we not only have a strong coaching base for our teams, but we also have an established, well known and respected Club within the OVA. Our boys teams will be Burlington Blaze, and part of an organization that hosts OVA tournaments, has been granted a "GM Making Dreams Come True Grant" to further coaching in the Halton area, and a Club with representatives within the Universities and Colleges, elementary and secondary school programmes and which is active within the Burlington Community.
We are really excited about Blaze in the next few years, says Nicholson. Blaze has been working alongside Burlington Parks and Recreation and Burlington Tourism in the designing of the volleyball facilities in the new Alton Community Centre and Secondary School. The 8 court facility is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2012, and Blaze has already committed to bringing a major Can-Am Volleyball tournament into our city. With an additional 6 courts at Notre Dame, the current Blaze home base, and Corpus Christi, we will have 14 volleyball courts. This will rival all but a few volleyball venues anywhere in Ontario.
And - there will be "Blaze boys", playing on Burlington volleyball courts in OVA competition this coming fall.