Kincardine Outdoor Volleyball Association serves up exciting 2024 season

The Kincardine Outdoor Volleyball Association (KOVA) beach volleyball courts experienced a bustling season filled with competitions, youth programs, and community support throughout 2024.

January and February had a small group of volunteers, including Melissa Chauder, Jacob Siekierski, Alexis Gallant, Jamie Shewfelt, Andy Ferguson, and Emily and Arthur Turland, planning for a great season ahead.

March kicked off with an exciting indoor co-ed pairs tournament that drew 60 participants from all over.

May saw the Bulldogs Youth Sunday tournament attract nearly 90 youth athletes, with the KOVA courts ready for use the weekend following.

The adult league launched at the end of May, attracting 40 teams and a remarkable 300 players.

Unfortunately, June’s annual Welcome to Summer tournament had to be cancelled, but KOVA youth clinics and Momentum Volleyball camps filled up quickly.

KOVA youth clinics had 42 youth registered for each of the two six-week sessions and welcomed drop-ins from visiting cottagers throughout the summer. Michael Amoroso of Momentum Volleyball, an avid sponsor and supporter of KOVA, rented the courts for five weeks of the summer to hold full and half-day volleyball camps for youth.

July brought community spirit, with Kincardine Fire and Emergency Services hosting a fund-raising tournament. The proceeds went toward purchasing a defibrillator for Inverhuron Provincial Park.

In August, the community mourned the loss of Doug Kennedy whose unwavering support was instrumental in establishing KOVA. The group is forever grateful for his leadership and contributions to the sports community.

The league season wrapped up with a successful year-end tournament, featuring 27 teams.

In September, through donations, private court rentals, clinics, league, and tournament fees, and the community’s continued support, KOVA gave its first scholarship to a local KOVA youth headed off to play volleyball at the university level. The group proudly awarded a $2,000 scholarship to Yazan El Hajj.

With league play finished for the season, the public didn’t want to see the summer end, as the courts continued to be used daily by the public and a private rental by Globotech, booking the courts for an employee work social and team-building event.

In October, high school volunteers helped prepare the courts for winter by taking down the netting for storage, and the group is thankful for their help at the end of each season.

To end 2024, KOVA was able to finish off a successful season by purchasing 50 indoor volleyballs to donate to Huron Heights, St. Anthony’s, Elgin Market, Lucknow, and Ripley schools to thank the youth of the community for continued support and use of the KOVA courts.

Overall, 2024 was a resounding success for KOVA, thanks to the dedication of players, volunteers, and supporters!

Follow KOVA on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date with events.

What we are serving up for 2025 (tentative dates):
 

• January - Save The Dates will start being posted for 2025 events
• Feb. 8 - Pairs Tournament registration opens
• March 8 - Pairs Tournament
• March 22 - Bulldogs Youth tournament registration opens
• March 29 - Youth Beach Clinics registration opens
• April 12 - League registration opens
• May 4 - Youth Bulldogs tournament
• May 10 – Nets go up (weather permitting)
• May 17 – Welcome to Summer registration opens
• May 25 – League begins
• June 14 - Welcome to Summer Tournament
• June 18 – First six-week clinic
• July 19 - Year-End Tournament registration, notification to teams, deadline to reply is July 26
• July 30 – Second six-week clinic
• Aug. 9 – Firefighters Tournament
• Aug. 10 – Last week of League
• Aug. 16 - League Year-End Tournament
• Sept. 3 - Last clinic session
• October - Nets come down, based on weather