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Volleyball advocates not willing to give up on college program yet |
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Written by JASON PETERS, Citizen staff
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Monday, 12 May 2008 |
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NORTHERN BCCOLLEGES ATHLETIC ASSOCIATIONNEW CALEDONIA
Mintenko, a Prince George Youth Volleyball Club board member, hopes to see college-level competition return to the city for the 2009-10 B.C. Colleges Athletic Association season. And he's not alone. The PGYVC board, in response to the budget-induced cancellation of men's and women's volleyball at the College of New Caledonia, has approached the University of Northern B.C. athletics department about forming a partnership that would keep the post-secondary game alive and healthy long into the future.
Len McNamara, UNBC's athletics and recreation coordinator, told The Citizen Sunday night UNBC will not seek membership in the BCCAA volleyball league for 2008-09. He said UNBC is "committed" in its bid for Canadian Interuniversity Sport membership in men's and women's basketball. That commitment requires cash, which, according to McNamara, means UNBC does not have the financial resources to go after BCCAA volleyball for 2008-09.
But, he has not closed the door on future involvement in the league, and that's where the PGYVC proposal comes into play.
"The PGYVC is very interested in developing a top-notch program with the university, since the college dropped theirs," Mintenko said.
"From the club's perspective, we had our annual general meeting a week ago and the club put its full support behind a bid to get the university to pursue that (BCCAA volleyball membership) in that 2009 year. And it looks like what we're going to do is do some fundraising through the club to help support the university as well because that's the major issue."
Mintenko said the PGYVC will try to raise $120,000 between now and the start of the 2009-10 BCCAA season. That amount, in theory, would be enough to cover the expenses of UNBC volleyball teams. The PGYVC's fundraising methods would revolve around the game itself.
"With the college sort of giving up (its support of volleyball), our club is going to run all the programs during the summer for volleyball camps and stuff like that," Mintenko said. "(Fellow PGYVC board member) Allan (Tong) and I are having a meeting on Wednesday to deal with the Bear Country Classic (high school tournament, formerly run by CNC). We'd like to run that as well. All of those high schools have been coming for years. And all of this would be sort of a fundraiser towards a potential university (program)."
A partnership like the one the PGYVC is suggesting is already working successfully in Kelowna, home to the UBC Okanagan Lakers of the BCCAA.
"There's a society, basically a separate organization, that runs all the camps, plus tournaments," said Mintenko, adding that money generated flows into the UBC-O volleyball program. "We're trying to do that same thing here, with our club support."
Mintenko said a society is currently in the organizational stages here in Prince George.
"Randy Wagner, myself, Glenn Wong and John Masich (are) some of the members involved," he said. "We haven't formally done this yet, but what we're going to do is form 'Friends of the North Volleyball,' which will sort of be an off-shoot of our club board and we'll be able to do these fundraising activities, hopefully for the university teams. If that fails, then basically it's going to be fundraising for our club."
If UNBC does have a men's volleyball team in the BCCAA for 2009-10, Mintenko envisions it being a strong one. Kodiak Impact, a 17-and-under team from the PGYVC, went undefeated at the recent provincial championship tournament and finished tied for fifth at nationals.
"Those would be perfect contenders for a 2009 season at UNBC," Mintenko said.
"On the girls side, we're probably three years away, because the 16-and-under (PGYVC team) right now is relatively strong. Those would be a very good contingent of players."
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Last Updated ( Monday, 12 May 2008 )
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