Lion Wayne Bent, left, accepts a cheque from Chris Hartley, coach and director of Port Volleyball Clinics. Photo provided
Westport Lions Roar
By Lauren Hartley
This year was the best season yet for The Port Volleyball Clinic. The Port has been running out of the Westport Lions Club Beach for the last five summers. This year, there were over 100 athletes participating across 5 clinics.
People are often very surprised to see a beach volleyball clinic of this caliber being run out of a small village. However, the purpose behind this clinic is clear from their mission statement: to help young athletes in rural areas access competitive beach volleyball training as well as build a lifelong love for the sport of volleyball.
The Port is also showing well at the provincial level. Beth Farndon and Naomi Hartley ended their season with an impressive silver medal in Division 1, Tier 1 of U15 Girls Beach Volleyball. This makes them the second best U15 beach team in the entire province. This is also the highest finish for any beach volleyball player from the Port as well as the Kingston or Ottawa area in this season. Chris Hartley, the director of the Port as well as the technical director for Kingston Volleyball Academy, said, “Naomi and Beth really surprised many of the big city kids with their abilities and had a lot of people asking, ‘Where are you from?’ We are always happy to explain where Westport is and the amazing community support we have here.”
Hartley is always specific about where the credit for this success belongs: “The great thing about this success is the number of people who have helped the girls get to this point. We have had very supportive coaches and assistant coaches this year. Parents were also always willing to step in and help. Of course, we can’t overstate the importance of the Lions being there to support us by always being so willing to let us use the beach!”