Revelstoke comes together to send high school team to provincials

The Revelstoke community rallied around a group of young athletes in order to help them fulfill their goal at the end of their high school sports season.

The Revelstoke Secondary School boy’s volleyball team qualified for provincials in mid-November. When the province was placed under a state of emergency shortly after, due to the flooding and landslides, the closure of major transportation routes made getting the team to provincials this year very difficult.

All teams across the province were told that they’d have to fly to Victoria in order to participate in the tournament.

With less than a week to prepare for the trip, the boys and their parents drafted up letters to deliver to local businesses looking for donations.

Within the limited time frame, the team was able to secure the funding they needed to make the trip to provincials.

“It was really touching, as a parent, to see the way the community gets behind their kids,” said Lisa Campbell, mother of Rogan Campbell, one of the athletes.

The boys on the team have been playing together since they were in Grade 9, and are led by Kathy Hoshizaki and Jodi Wallach, their coaches. Hoshizaki was named Female Coach of the Year by BC School Sports for her role in the 2019/20 season with Revelstoke Secondary.

Friends and family from across Canada watched along online, cheering the boys on.

The Revelstoke Avalanche finished seventh at the 2021 BC School Sports AA Boys Volleyball Provincial in Victoria.

Revelstoke player Rogan Campbell was one of six players at the tournament to be named a 2nd Team MVP.

The team received donations from the following local businesses:

• Revelstoke Credit Union

• Downie Timber

• Skookum

• Revelstoke Secondary School Parent Advisory Council

• Spears Construction

• Absolute Contracting

• Grizzly Auto

• Shade Sails

• Brandon Bowers

• NAPA Auto Parts

• Last Spike

• Southside Market

• Save-On-Foods

• Revelstoke Mountain Resort

• Trail Tire

• Revelstoke Optometry Centre

• School District 19

A number of generous donations were also made by members of the community who, according to Campbell, were pulling money out of their wallets to make sure they team would have enough to make it to the tournament.

Revelstoke’s Youth Access Fund also gave the team a grant to help with travel costs.

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