West Kootenay U16 volleyball team cracks Canada’s top 50

West Kootenay U16 volleyball team cracks Canada’s top 50

Published 3:00 pm Tuesday, June 16, 2026

The NVC Ice U16 girls volleyball team, made up of athletes from Rossland, Trail, Fruitvale and Castlegar, proved small communities can compete on the national stage during a standout season that culminated at the Volleyball Canada National Championships in Calgary. (Submitted)

For a group of teenage volleyball players from the West Kootenay, hundreds of kilometres on the road and countless hours in the gym paid off this season with a place among Canada’s best.

The NVC Ice U16 girls volleyball team, made up of athletes from Rossland, Trail, Fruitvale and Castlegar, capped off a remarkable season by competing at the Volleyball Canada National Championships in Calgary, where they posted a 5-2 record and finished 43rd overall among more than 300 teams.

The achievement is particularly notable given the team’s roots.

Competing out of a rural region far from the province’s major volleyball centres, the Ice are the only rural club team in British Columbia currently competing at the Division 1 level: the province’s highest tier of club volleyball.

The team entered nationals ranked 10th in British Columbia and 51st in Canada.

During the tournament, the Ice recorded victories over the 10th-ranked provincial teams from both Alberta and Ontario, further cementing their status as one of the country’s top-performing rural programs.

The strong showing followed another successful season in provincial competition, where the Ice finished 10th overall in B.C. while facing top-ranked opponents from the Lower Mainland, Okanagan, North Zone and Vancouver Island.

The team’s rise has been years in the making.

Coaches Krista Podwin and Angie Makway said the program’s trajectory began three years ago when the team unexpectedly captured gold at its first regional tournament.

Since then, the athletes have steadily climbed the provincial rankings, earning Division 1 status and finishing among British Columbia’s top 16 teams in each of the past two seasons.

The NVC Ice also became the first team in club history to reach Division 1 competition.

To compete against similarly ranked programs, the team travelled extensively throughout the season, making multiple trips to Abbotsford and competing in tournaments in Victoria and Calgary.

The athletes also gained valuable experience through a Spokane-based league, regularly facing strong American competition.

The season’s results highlight the growing strength of volleyball development in the Kootenay region and demonstrate that athletes from smaller communities can successfully compete against programs from much larger urban centres.

For the players, the season ended with more than wins and rankings.

It provided proof that dedication, teamwork and a willingness to travel wherever the competition takes them can put a rural team on equal footing with some of the best volleyball programs in the country.