Athletes are drawn to the Port Volleyball Clinics at the Lions Beach, where coaches Phil Brown and Michaela Hallinga (standing, left) and Chris and Lauren Hartley (standing, right) teach volleyball skills.
Westport Lions Roar
By Lion Bob Reddick
The Westport Lions are always happy when the beach is used. It makes all the club’s hard work worthwhile. The Lions are especially excited to see young people learning new skills and having fun.
Westport residents Chris and Lauren Hartley met playing volleyball at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. Chris has over 20 years of experience coaching volleyball at Rideau District High School in Elgin. Both Hartleys enjoyed teaching the sport to their children and wanted to help improve the volleyball skills of high school players.
The mission of the Port Volleyball Clinics is to give young local athletes access to competitive beach volleyball training. The program aims to build a lifelong love for the sport of volleyball and develop a positive community of volleyball players. In addition, it hopes to show young people the importance of giving back to the community.
Lauren and Chris started the Port Volleyball Clinics in 2022 with 20 athletes from grades 7 – 10. The following summer, the program expanded to two divisions – grades 7 – 8 and grades 9 – 12, serving 55 athletes. This summer, due to growing a demand, the Hartleys ran four clinics split between every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to accommodating 90 players.
One of the new offerings this year was the 2’s Competitive Clinic. The purpose of this clinic is to improve players’ indoor foundation skills, movement and vertical jump, and prepare the athletes for Ontario Volleyball Association’s summer events. It is reserved for young people from grades 9 to 12 who are playing at the competitive club level.
Several parents have requested that for next year; the clinics include grades 4 to 6, but no decision has been made yet.
Westport is quickly becoming a beach volleyball mecca. In addition to local athletes, the clinics attract participants from Kingston, Perth, and Brockville. The clinics are a win-win – not only for the young athletes, but for our community and the Lions Club. Every year, the Port clinics give the Westport Lions a sizeable donation.
The club built the first court in 2013, followed by a second court in 2015. Thanks to Chris and Lauren Hartley’s guidance and contacts, the club has been able to organize highly successful and profitable beach volleyball tournaments.
To learn more about the Port Volleyball Clinics, visit https://www.theportvolleyballclinics.ca. into your browser.
The information for this article was obtained from The Port Volleyball Clinic’s website.