Steel City Ignite Volleyball looks to grow, expand on success

A local volleyball club is serving up quite the success story.

Steel City Ignite Volleyball, the city’s first competitive volleyball organization, has already received several provincial accolades in its program’s infancy.

This potential-bursting club was a dream come true for one local volleyball advocate.

Becky Grisdale-Turner, a long-time coach and convener for elementary volleyball, had always questioned why there was no club volleyball in the Sault beforehand. She’s been running camps for elementary students for a number of years, and has witnessed firsthand the passion these young athletes have for the game.

Despite this, other sports like hockey, basketball, and soccer continued to dominate the local field of play, while volleyball struggled to get near their heights of success.

She knew something had to give.

“The Sault hasn’t valued volleyball as much as other sports,” Grisdale-Turner says. “But I wanted to break that tradition.”

Several years ago, Grisdale-Turner began reaching out to other volleyball clubs outside of the Sault. Eventually, she formed a connection with the folks at Vision Volleyball in North Bay, and they ended up providing a tremendous amount of support and encouragement towards building a program in the Sault.

From there, things began moving quickly.

“Vision Volleyball club really loved coming to the Sault,” Grisdale-Turner says. “I brought them up for camps, they worked with our high school and elementary athletes, and they were supporting the growth of volleyball in the Sault. Then they started giving me the nudge to start a club.”

In 2019, Grisdale-Turner gathered two female teams and formed Steel City Ignite, and ultimately joined the Ontario Volleyball Association – an historic move for the city as no competitive volleyball team had ever represented the Sault at a provincial level.

The squads were thrown an immediate curve-ball in the form of COVID, making them ineligible to travel for tournament action.

Despite the early setback, Grisdale-Turner appreciated that time to grow.

“It’s not like high school, we don’t follow OFSAA rules,” she says. “We had to learn different ins and outs of the game. North Bay ran a whole tournament for us and taught us how to score and how to function in the OVA. They truly mentored us.”

Soon after, Ignite expanded from two female volleyball teams to four: A U18, a U16, and two U15s. Meanwhile, the lone boys team was forced to withdraw because of pandemic-related complications.

Once travel was permitted again in 2022, Ignite headed south for tournament action, entering the OVA unranked and virtually unknown.

It’s safe to say they made a statement.

The U15 and U18 squads earned bronze medals at the Bugarski Cup. And when the lights shone brightest, the team once again impressed at the provincial championships as the U18 and U16 teams both won silver.

Following their successful start as a club, Steel City quickly earned respect in the OVA, but Grisdale-Turner says there’s still more work to do.

“We’re not truly on the map yet because we don’t have enough teams in enough tournaments,” she says. “As we grow, that will become more of a reality.”

While the girls had an incredible run to finish the season, Grisdale-Turner wants to see a boys team make their mark as well.

“We’re really trying to push the boys program,” she says. “We want to see boys volleyball in Sault Ste. Marie. We think it’s a shame we don’t have it in high school sports. But we see the talent.”

Grisdale-Turner says club sports in particular open more doors for local athletes, and cooperation with high schools is key to help making it possible.

The fantasy of playing in post-secondary becomes a reality for athletes as college and university scouts attend provincial events.

“Without club sports, it’s very difficult for athletes to reach that level of play where they would be able to compete in post-secondary,” she says. “It’s not that it doesn’t ever happen, but it’s very difficult.”

Steel City’s recent exposure down south directly resulted in three of their players being scouted at provincials, and one of them is even planning to sign.

Now that their memorable season is behind them, all eyes shift to expansion efforts.

Steel City Ignite has reached out to each of the local school boards with the intention to form partnerships in hopes of expanding the program in area schools.

“We can’t grow the program without facilities,” Grisdale-Turner says. “The cost of gym rentals is insane, and we don’t have the necessary equipment all the time. The Sault also doesn’t have enough volleyball officials, but there will be more opportunities for them if we’re able to expand the club.”

The organization is also on the hunt for parents who may be interested in volunteer coaching.

“Volunteers are what make this club run,” she says. “As long as we can get coaches, we’ll train them and pay for their certificates, but we need the volunteers. In order to make something grow, you have to build capacity.”

Grisdale-Turner senses the community is starting to get on board with the program. But she doesn’t take all the credit for their success, however.

“It takes a village,” she says. “I could not do this on my own. If it wasn’t for Annette Lamour, none of this would happen. With her vested interest and my ability to organize, the two of us are the reason we’re here now. She’s been absolutely instrumental.”

Above all, Grisdale-Turner wants to see athletes discover the same passion for the sport that she’s experienced for most of her life.

“I want it to be something they play forever,” she says. “I don’t want the focus to only be on the competition, I want to provide opportunities for development as well.”

Ignite will be running volleyball camps for elementary and high school students over the summer, and information regarding tryouts will be released at the end of August.