Same name, same gymnasium, different format – that’s the essence of the Coastal Cup volleyball competition set for Saturday, Feb. 29.
After a one-year hiatus, the tournament is coming back to the gym at Elphinstone Secondary and this time instead of school teams, two under-15 club teams will compete for the title: Sunshine Coast Volleyball Club’s (SCVC) Suns and the Powell River Volleyball Club Aces.
“It will be high paced and exciting volleyball coming from the best-of-the-best players from the Northern and Southern Sunshine Coast,” said Andrew Appleton, who organized the first tournament in 2018 and is assisting this year.
Several games will be played the morning of Feb. 29, with a final deciding game at approximately 11:30 a.m.
“We decided to do a 15U club edition of the Coastal Cup because it’s a higher level of competition and will be more exciting to watch from a spectator’s standpoint,” said Appleton. The teams are evenly matched, he said, and players from both Chatelech and Elphinstone secondary schools will represent the Sunshine Coast.
Appleton launched the exhibition tournament in 2018 while coaching Elphinstone Secondary School’s bantam girls team to make up for the lack of regular season home games, due to the cost of ferry travel for the North Shore teams they compete against.
“I really wanted to set this up so our girls could know what it is like to play in front of their home crowd,” said Appleton at the time. Elphinstone Secondary School’s Midnight beat Powell River’s Brooks Secondary for first place in 2018.
The public is welcome to attend Saturday’s game. The SCVC Suns, coached by Sara Schutz, plan to fundraise to cover the cost of 2020 Volleyball Canada Nationals, to be held in Edmonton this May.
