We don’t need to dwell on what a challenging year it’s been, especially for many of our members.  Our hearts and hugs go out to those who suffered losses and have gone through their own personal battles.  The Fall season was full of challenges and new discoveries. We discovered what it takes to operate weekend and drop-in programs. We managed a COVID exposure with Toronto Public Health, and safely operated one- and two-day tournaments. The Board continued to adapt, learn, strategize, and persevere in our commitment to bring safe volleyball play back to our community.

We so dearly hoped we would be back to some sort of normal on the courts this Fall but school permits were held tight.  Anticipating permits might be difficult to obtain, we pre-booked more dates at Ryerson than usual and started looking for weekend school permits.  The goal was to give our members as many opportunities to play or socialize as they were comfortable participating in.  All this while we managed new systems to meet COVID safety plans including:

  • Our first Open House, inviting new members to try us out.  The promotion and the attendance for the event resulted in many new members and increased awareness of our league.  Despite COVID, we remain the largest LGBTQ2S+ single-sport league in Canada with approximately 650 members.
  • Open pay-as-you-play on weekends
  • Beach BBQ Picnic
  • Three tournaments including our 2nd largest tournament ever, Rise of the Spartans presented by Perry Ryno RE/MAX
  • Numerous post-play social events
  • Development sessions
Dedicated Board Members and Volunteers
The volunteers on the Board have dedicated so much more of their time to deliver everything above in a new way.  Please thank them when you see them.
  • Adam Smith, VP Communications
  • CJ Tremeer, VP Finance
  • Cody Walker, Events Coordinator
  • David Lai, VP Operations
  • Jason Wang, Rec Division Coordinator
  • MIth Das, Comp Division Coordinator
  • Sam Patil, Tournament Coordinator
  • Shawn Perry, Development Coordinator
  • Sokny Ung,  Intermediate Division Coordinator

We also acknowledge the many member volunteers who contributed their time and energy to support the programming we offered.

Ontario Trillium Foundation Grant
A Board sub-committee put together a comprehensive application, in a very short timeframe, for an Ontario Trillium Foundation Community Building Fund – Operating Stream Grant.  We proudly received the maximum eligible amount of $50k to support the operational return to play. It allowed us to do much of what was offered in the Fall and plan to use the funds carefully to set us up for the rest of the year to help us cover some of the additional operating costs we’ve incurred.

State of the Permits for Winter 2022
Permits have been released for the Catholic School Board.  We received most of the permits requested.  Permit times have been shifted earlier from 6:00-9:00pm.
Permit news from the Public School Board will be released in mid-January.  It’s anticipated we’ll retain some and lose others as only one permit holder will be approved each evening.  Priority will go to children, youth and seniors.What will it mean if our permits are limited but we have enough to begin Division play?  Some opportunities we’re considering to maximize the number of teams include:
  • Shorter, earlier schedules each evening, and
  • Divisions might run on more than one night, or
  • Divisions might run every other week.
Membership Fees and Registration for Winter 2022
Membership fees ($20) will be due in mid-January for Winter 2022.Recreational Division:  Members-only registration will open in mid-January when we know how many gyms we have.The Intermediate and Competitive Divisions will use registration priority status from the Fall. Captains will not be required to re-register.  Players will pay their membership and playing fees when we know how many gyms we have.  Priority status from the Fall will determine how many teams get in this winter.

What’s up for 2022?
Expect a new look for TSVL in 2022 with a new logo, branding, and website
Introduction of TeamSnap, which is a league management and communication system. Plus, some exciting events:
  • Ice-Breaker Party Feb 5
  • AGM – May 8
  • End-of-Season Banquet –  Miss & Mr TSVL – TBC
  • Tournaments:
  • One Day Comp (High/Mid Comp) – Jan 29
  • One Day Intermediate (+ Low Comp) – Feb 5
  • One Day Rec – March 5
  • Return of the Spartans – May 28/29
  • Ottawa – March 26/27 (TBC)
  • Montreal – April 16/17  (TBC)
  • Calgary Western Cup –  April 14-17
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