New volleyball club getting ready for its first season

As another season of club volleyball approaches, a new volleyball club has been launched in southwestern Nova Scotia, with tryouts planned for Dec. 9-10.

Derek Lesser, a spokesman for the new entity – the Western Warriors Volleyball Club – says the club will do most of its practising in Yarmouth.

Lesser said he and Jamie Moses had been approached by a few players about perhaps getting a new club going in the local area.

“So we decided we would kind of launch it and see how things go,” Lesser said. “We’ve been able to secure a few sponsors to help with jerseys and equipment and stuff.”

Geographically, the new club covers basically the same area as Southwest Fusion, a well-established Yarmouth County-based club, but Lesser says he feels there is room for another club.

“We’re encouraging everybody to try out for both clubs,” he said. “We’re not recruiting players. We’re not saying, ‘you should play for us versus them.’”

The players will have a chance to see what each club has to offer, he said, and decide where they might like to go.

Claudette Deveau, a spokesperson for Southwest Fusion, says she welcomes anything that can help volleyball grow and get more youth to play.

“In regard to having a new club in the area,” she said, “I have always supported any program that gets kids on the court, playing. Everyone benefits.”

Said Lesser, “I know some people would say maybe we’re not big enough (for two clubs). I believe it should allow us to have more local events. We could play each other, that type of thing.”

The new club also would look at having volleyball clinics and camps, he said.

“We have young coaches that are in their early 20s that have played every position, so we have the capacity in the club to train using these young coaches that can demonstrate the skills,” Lesser said.

As for how many teams the Western Warriors will have in their first season, he said they initially anticipated having one, but it looks there could be several.

The focus for now is on girls, but the plan eventually is to get a boys program going too, he said.

The club also will offer a program for younger athletes to learn fundamental movement skills and proper technique. The plan is to start this in January.

The club is looking for volunteers to sit on its committees. It would only require a few meetings a year, Lesser said. Anyone interested is invited to send an email to westernwarriorsderek@gmail. com or visit the Facebook page Western Warriors Volleyball Club or, on Instagram, @western_warriorsvolleyball.