Mitch Calvert
FORT FRANCES—Members of the local volleyball community are spearheading plans to bring a youth development league to Fort Frances.
The league will run from mid-September to mid-November, with organized games being played Monday and Wednesday evenings.
The program aims to improve skill development as well as spark sustained interest in the sport.
“We’re hoping to get enough kids out to develop our volleyball club in the spring that will go and compete in Manitoba,” Fort High volleyball coach Duane Roen said.
“That’s the whole idea: to get kids exposed to a higher level of volleyball at a younger age and try to catch up to some of the other towns who are doing it already,” he noted.
One group will include ages 11-12 (Grades 5 and 6), another ages 13-14 (Grades 7 and 8), and lastly ages 15-16 (Grades 9 and 10).
Each group will have to be limited to about 16 participants.
“Still trying to work out when the gym times will be because I’m still trying to work out some things with the schools, but we’d like to try to get registrations going here in the next week or two,” Roen said.
Roen, along with fellow Fort High volleyball coach Jason Cain and Amy Wilson-Hands, will be heavily involved with the league, but Roen said they always could use an extra helping hand or two.
“Always interested in people who want to come out and learn a little bit, or help out,” he stressed.
(Fort Frances Daily Bulletin)
