This year marks the sixth year that the Richmond School District has held its City Centre Classic Volleyball Tournament, a single-day event in mid-November in which some 500 elementary students participated last year.
This year’s event will take place on two campuses: MacNeill and Steveston-London, with Grade 6 and 7 co-ed teams drawn from as many as 26 local elementary schools.
“The purpose of our tournament is to use volleyball as a means to connect and celebrate various members of our community – students, parents, educators and community partners,” said Raymond Yoo, a Homma elementary teacher and one of the tournament organizers.
“Students benefit from the tournament by engaging in social opportunities, by positive influence from high school leaders and coaches, by building relationships with community partners and by receiving support from family members in a fun, physically active sporting environment.”
Yoo is hoping to secure the participation of the RCMP and Fire Rescue in the final match, where mixed teams help engage the players and build support.
“Their participation is valuable because the kids look up to them as role models,” he said.
Participants are asked to bring a non-perishable item for donation to the Richmond Food Bank and revenue from the concessions at all three sites will be donated to three charities.
“The parents and administrative assistants who run the concessions get to decide which charities, but our only request is that the organizations represent local, national and international charities,” Yoo explained.
Last year the Richmond Food Bank, Richmond Animal Protection Society, Red Cross, and Plan International were the recipients of the revenue.
That the tournament has been a success is evident in its growth over the years. Originally six schools came together in the tournament’s first year, but last year there were 26 schools and 56 teams.
Yoo has worked closely with MacNeill athletic director Herj Ghaug and Steveston-London athletic director Roxie Lewin to take care of scheduling, planning and logistics for the tournament. But he gives most of the credit to the work of volunteers.
“They are the only reason the tournament is so successful – the behind-the-scenes work of the coaches, high school leaders, athletic directors, parents and community partners,” he said.
