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Wednesday, Nov 22, 2017

Sports

A Bounce in the House

The Big Kahuna volleyball tournament Nov 29 - Dec 2

By Ian Esplen, Volleyball BC

Volleyball BC website images

he Big Kahuna Volleyball Championships will take place, Nov. 29-Dec. 2 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, BC. This event acts as the official BC School Sports Senior Volleyball Provincial Championships in the AA Boys, AAA Boys and AAAA Girls divisions.

This past season, BC School Sports had 1,271 teams, comprised of 16,252 athletes – Grade 8-to-Grade 12 – compete in the sport of volleyball. Of those teams, 145 competed in the Senior Boys volleyball and 273 competed in Senior Girls volleyball.

Langley Christian School (AA Boys), Semiahmoo Secondary School (AAA Boys) and Belmont Secondary School (AAAA Girls) are all back looking to repeat as provincial champions in 2017.

All three teams will be returning their MVPs from last year’s championships, Mike Dowhaniuk (Semiahmoo), Brodie Hofer (Langley Christian) and Savannah Purdy (Belmont).

Handsworth Secondary School standout and UBC recruit, Kayla Oxland will also be playing in the tournament and searching for a second championship – She was part of a powerhouse Handsworth team that won in 2015 when she was only in Grade 10.

Some of the top teams challenging them for volleyball supremacy this year are, Duchess Park Secondary School (AA Boys), George Elliott Secondary School (AA Boys), Abbotsford Christian School (AA Boys), Mt. Baker Secondary School (AAA Boys), Delta Secondary School (AAA Boys), Oak Bay Secondary School (AAA Boys), Earl Marriott Secondary School (AAA Boys & AAAA Girls), Handsworth Secondary School (AAAA Girls) and Semiahmoo Secondary School (AAAA Girls).

AA Boys, AAA Boys and AAAA Girls divisions are defined as follows, AA Boys, 81-225 senior aged (Grade 11 & 12) boys enrolled at the school, AAA Boys, more than 226 senior aged boys enrolled at the school and AAAA Girls, more than 251 senior aged girls enrolled at the school.

The BC Provincial Championships originally started as an invitational tournament in 1940s with the first “official champion” being crowned in 1959. In 1994 the tournament moved to Kelowna where it remained for 20 years. In 2014 it moved to Langley Events Centre.

Notable players who have competed at past AA & AAA Boys Provincial Championships include, Gord Perrin (Prince Charles), Fred Winters (Claremont), Ben Chow (Fleetwood Park), Marc Howatson (Oak Bay) Steve Marshall MEI) and Brett Youngberg (Elgin Park).

Details, a list of competing schools, rankings and the tournament schedule and information about tickets can be found here and you can follow along on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #BCVolleyChamps.