Wheatland Volleyball Club
Shannon LeClair – Times Reporter
The Wheatland Volleyball Club was formed in December when Tari Cockx’s two daughters wanted to play club volleyball.
Up until then there had not been a club volleyball team in town, with the closest one being in Calgary.
“Instead of driving to Calgary we decided to see if we could get enough girls in Strathmore,” said Cockx.
Originally Cockx was looking for girls age 15 to play but couldn’t get enough who were interested.
“We couldn’t get enough girls, so we got five to six grade nines and four girls from grade eight. Because we have the older ones we have to play as an older team so we have a U15 team.”
Cockx and coach Joanne Lahoda hope to expand the club so it includes U13 to U16. The reason it is called U16 is because if the girl was born in 1995 and is turning 16 during the year then they will fall into the U16 category. The club is not affiliated with any school and anyone interested in playing can join the club.
“All of the girls that are on the team right now are from Holy Cross Collegiate. I tried to get girls from the other schools, but I didn’t have any response. That’s why we are called Wheatland because at first I thought we would have girls from other schools,” said Cockx.
Cockx is the team manager, and through the company she and her husband own, they bought uniforms, volleyballs and other equipment for the team.
Since its inception the club has played in eight tournaments, and it is a pay-to-play club.
On May 8, the club will be having their year-end Fun Volleyball Tournament at Strathmore High School. There won’t be a charge to attend the event; the club is asking instead that everyone bring a donation for the food bank.
There will be a mini tournament and a skills competition.
For more information about the club and to register contact Tari Cockx at tcockx@telus.net