Volleyball has returned to Edward Milne Community School in a big way, and the school’s athletic director, Ebony Logins, couldn’t be more pleased.
For the first time since 2002 the school has been able to field a senior boys team. They have also put together a formidable senior girls team, the first since 2004. They also have a Junior Girls team, said Logins.
“Edward Milne students play multiple sports, and sometimes it’s hard for them to decide which sport they want to take part in. The best athletes generally have their pick of sports and deciding which to play, especially if there are conflicts with overlapping seasons between sports, can be tough,” explained Logins. “I have to say that, in Sooke, the coaches in various sports do try to be cooperative and accommodating so that these young athletes can play multiple sports if that’s what they want to do.”
Over the years, another problem has been that a lack of coaches for volleyball, making it difficult to have teams playing at the school.
“Coaching takes a lot of time, and I can only say that the young people really appreciate the hours that volunteer coaches give to the teams to make it possible for them to exist. You have to remember that it’s not only game times, but the practices that have to be held that take time for volunteer coaches,” said Logins.
(This year Stefanie Torbohm coaches the senior boys team.)
Of course, with a plethora of other sports available, and without a tradition of volleyball at the school since 2004, it’s also been a matter of generating student interest.
“Through the hard work of a number of people we managed to get 14 members on the senior boy’s team, 14 on the senior girl’s team and 9 on the junior girl’s team. We want to build on that for next year and try to field a full set of teams next season,” said Logins.
“We have the advantage with the senior teams that there are a number of grade 11 students on the team so it will give us a pretty strong base for next year’s senior teams.”
The volleyball season wraps up at the end of the first week in November, so fans of amateur volleyball will still have a chance to watch the hometown athletes in action. Game schedules are available by calling the school.