Not all athletes who compete with the Northern Chill Volleyball Club also partake in the summer beach volleyball game.

In fact, it's honestly only a relatively small percentage of the indoor crew who transition directly to the outdoor version of the sport at the start of June.

But with 17 court teams registered in 2023-2024, even a 25% cross-over would allow the Chill to field 25 or so beach teams on the OVA (Ontario Volleyball Association) summer circuit.

The large gathering of teens who assemble on the courts of Moonlight Beach pretty much every Tuesday and Thursday is a testament to this. And as mid-August takes hold, those who travel the province in search of tournament action eventually make their way to Ashbridges Bay in Toronto, site of the all-Ontario playdowns.

Earlier this month, Mina McCoshen and Lara Gray garnered silver medals in 15U Division 2 Tier 1 Ontario Championship action, with the bulk of the remaining Chill entries competing this past weekend. Part of the 17U Premier Division Tier 2 bracket, second year beach teammates Danika Bouffard and Madisyn Vendetti knew going in they would be in tough.

“We’ll be the shortest team there,” laughed Bouffard last week, part of the challenge when a libero and a setter partner in the sand. “But the coaches have taught us how to “pokey” over the block.”

Whether the quasi-equivalent to what is an open-handed roll in the indoor game is enough to level the field completely is debatable - but the enjoyment of the summer volleyball rendition is not.

“In indoor, I’m not allowed to hit or serve – and those are some of the fun things that we do,” said Bouffard, a defensive specialist in the winter. “In beach, I get to do it all the time. I get to have a lot of court.”

Covering as much of the spectrum of volleyball skill-sets is just one of the reasons why the grade 11 student at Lo-Ellen Park Secondary School favours her current partnership with Vendetti.

“We’ve been playing together for a long time – I can never get mad at her for making a mistake,” she smiled. “And because we have such different positions (indoors), I feel like it’s an advantage to us on the beach court.”

Still, when she returns to volleyball of the six-person variety with Lo-Ellen Park and the Chill in the next few months, she will tackle the challenge that is the ultra-focused nature of her position as libero. “It requires a lot of mental toughness,” said Bouffard. “You have the be the best passer on the team. It’s the one thing you have to do.”

Kylie Breau and Sara Labelle experienced their first foray to the uniqueness of provincial playdowns this past weekend at the site on the shores of Lake Ontario that features more than 100 beach courts after getting their feet wet in the sport last summer.

“I honestly think that we are better at everything, but mostly, our passes are getting really good,” said Breau, who will join her partner as incoming freshmen at Ecole secondaire Macdonald-Cartier in just a few weeks time. “We have better control now over where we want to put it.”

Both young ladies were members of the Chill family for the first time last year and like most who make the move from the floor to the sand in order to keep getting touches on the ball pretty much twelve months a year, this duo readily acknowledges that the games are certainly not carbon copies of one another.

“I feel like they are mostly the same, but the passing is very different,” said Breau. “In beach, our passes are way higher than in indoor. I am a setter (indoors), so usually my passes are not very high.”

In fact, when she looks to Labelle on the outside (she will also play middle, at times), she might soften the arc on her set, just a tad.

“I would put the ball kind of diagonal for her, towards the middle so that she can hit cross or line,” said Bouffard, “This way, she has the choice.”

Provincials were not the only area where volleyball locals were shining recently as Northern Chill representatives boasted a gold medal (coach Kevin McKee and his boys team), a silver medal (courtesy of Cédric Larouche and his squad) and a bronze medal (thanks to the efforts of Greg Kao and what became affectionately known as “Team Greg”) at the Ontario Summer Games.

Macie Barlow and coach Carrie Welsh were also part of the all-Ontario festivities in London.

It’s been quite a whirlwind sequence of volleyball experiences for Larouche, in particular, who first picked up the sport as a grade nine student at Ecole secondaire Macdonald-Cartier last fall.

“We went to a tournament in North Bay and the ref told me that I played really good and that I should consider playing club,” said the young setter who connected with Chill administrators / coaches soon thereafter. “Then I saw the Team Ontario regional program opportunity and submitted my video.”

With athletes, coaches and officials benefitting from all that the campus of Western University has to offer, it’s no surprise that the entire experience was a worthwhile one for Larouche and company.

“Just making new friendships and playing at such a high level was really cool,” he said. “I liked the coaches a lot – and loved the meal plan.”

As for the manner in which Kao immersed himself with his new teammates from all corners of Ontario, safe to say that he is simply a pretty likable guy. “At practice, they start chanting “Greg on two” – and that’s kind of how it started,” Kao noted with a smile.

It wasn’t, however, just the camaraderie of these new friendships which made an impact on the grade 10 student at Lo-Ellen at the Games. “All of the effort that they put in is amazing,” he said. “And the energy that they play with – it was crazy.”

First making the acquaintance of volleyball in grade eight, Kao seems to have found an athletic passion to pursue right through his secondary school career.

“I just fell in love with the sport and the next year, I dedicated myself to trying to get better and being able to join the club (Chill)” – which he did. “My effort and mindset really changed overall. I want to train my mindset so that I can handle failure and stuff like that.”

As for the flipside, success earlier this summer for local beach athletes includes the following teams:

Addison Peplinski / Emma DeMarchi - gold in Sudbury; silver in North Bay
Ivana Coluzzi / Mackenzie Switzer - gold in North Bay; silver in Sudbury
Morgan Gauvreau / Julia Moulaison - two gold medals and a silver
Brinley Evans / Maya Chretien - silver medals
Kylie Breau / Sara Labelle - two gold; two silver

The future of beach volleyball in Sudbury looks bright.