The Toppers Volleyball club was started in 1982 by school teacher Howard Gange who wanted to better develop the high school volleyball program. The club started out with 1 Midget team and grew over the years to at one point consist of 13 teams in the Bantam (14 & under), Midget (16 & under) and Juvenile (18 & under) categories. At one time Toppers included boy's teams, but they have gone on to form their own club, the Smashing Bananas.
Our program runs from mid-January until the end of April or early May, with tryouts being held in December. Our coaches usually hold practices once or twice per week. We rely on the generosity of the Public and Separate schools to be able to hold our practices in various school gyms free of charge.
Each year in the past we have seen 2 or 3 girls that have gone through the Toppers program go on to play at the University level in both Canada and the U.S.A. Most recently, two 2011 St. Mary graduates and Toppers players moved on to play for the U of R Cougars & the U of S Huskies. A 2005 graduate of Carlton and Toppers player attended university in North Dakota on a volleyball scholarship; a 2006 graduate of Carlton and Toppers went on to play with the U of S Huskies; a 2007 graduate of Carlton and Toppers is playing on scholarship for Minot State and a 2007 graduate of St. Mary's and Toppers is traveling to play volleyball at the college level in Montana.
Carlton and St. Mary's have traditionally been competitive at high school provincials, with Carlton winning a silver medal in 2010 and bronze in 2008. Both teams traditionally place well at high caliber tournaments within Saskatchewan and out of province. The majority of senior high school team players have improved their skills by playing in the Toppers program.
The 2010 & 2011 17U & 18U Toppers teams attended Nationals in Abbotsford, B.C. The 17U team placed 11th out of 64 teams. Five of these players also represented our city on Team Saskatchewan. 2011 saw 2 players move on to play CIS Women?s Volleyball, one at University of Saskatchewan and one player at University of Regina. The 2012 18U/17U team has one player already signed to play with the University of Saskatchewan and 2 athletes who have represented Prince Albert on Team Sask.
In 2011, our 16U team travelled to Calgary to compete in the 16U National competition and our 14U team travelled to Saskatoon to compete in the 14U National competition. All of our teams compete in provincials and attend at least one other away tournament. We hold a home tournament in each age class which brings in over 30 visiting teams from different locations throughout the province.
We operate on an annual budget of approximately $53,000.00. All of our coaches and executive members are volunteers but we like to cover the coach's expenses for hotels and meals at tournaments. The 2012 registration fee will be $275.00 for each player that makes it onto a team. This fee, for one volleyball season, covers:
* Volleyball Canada/SVA affiliation fee
In the past, in an effort to raise funds, the club has sold Boat raffle tickets for the Optimist club. This type of fund raising activity is always a welcome opportunity for the Toppers.
* one team jersey
* entry fee to provincials
* entry fee to one home tournament
* entry fee to one away tournament
