2011 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR

Brenda Jones has been involved with the Northern Alberta Volleyball Club (NAVC) in many capacities over the years: she has been a parent, a coach, a coach coordinator, and a member of the NAVC Executive board. 

Brenda’s love for the game is long-standing as both coach and player. She is a former University of Alberta Pandas player, and she coached for the club back when it was known as EVC. She has more recently coached at the 13U, 14U, and 15U levels with NAVC. 

Brenda’s primary role for the 2011 season was Coach Coordinator. This was her third season in the role with the primary responsibility of leading the coach selection committee and providing technical leadership. As NAVC is the largest club in Northern Alberta with 16 teams, a lot of the success of the club rested on her ability to recruit the best coaches possible. She spent countless hours interviewing, checking references and certifications, matching assistant and head coaches, as well as training and supporting the coaches throughout the season. 

While Brenda’s efforts should not be solely evaluated by examining the results from the season, the overall outcomes indicate a job well done. NAVC teams took home an impressive 3 Provincial Championships, 4 Provincial Silver Medals, and 18 Premier Medals.  

Throughout the season, Brenda attended the practices of several of the club teams, always providing encouragement, support, and her knowledge of the game to players, coaches, and parents.  

“Her warm friendly attitude is what helped bring me to NAVC to coach this season, and what will have me returning,” reflected David Desmeules, the Head Coach of the 13U Boys team.

In addition to her duties as Coach Coordinator, Brenda also founded a committee to study and promote Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) within the club. She has spent many hours leading the NAVC coaches in discussions and organizing workshops to explore ways in which LTAD can be implemented at all age levels within the club.   

“Brenda is always willing to help, take on another role, or sacrifice her time in the betterment of the players to whom she volunteers her time.” It is for this reason that she has been named the “Volunteer of the Year”.