I’ve said this before, but I’ll reiterate: some Vancouverites think of BC as California North. So it follows that outdoor volleyball is huge. Go to Kitsilano Beach on any summer afternoon and you’ll see beautifully butTed (and less perfect) bodies reaching for the net (and perhaps wider attention) at a series of courts along the sand.
However, less physically attuned city dwellers particularly those who live near the city’s only really impressive stretches of sandy beach, at Locarno and Spanish Banks — don’t like this volleyball incursion one little bit. They’ve been doggedly fighting to prevent this beach-life phenomenon from moving into their Northwest Marine Drive area — one they feel should remain “family friendly” and au naturel, meaning, in this case, relatively quiet and devoted to nature (as in water and trees).
Less controversially, volleyball is also played on grass. Of course, it also runs indoors year round, mainly at public community centers around the city. You can drop in for a game, attend a course or train¬ing clinic, and play in a league.
The Vancouver Volleyball Association (www.vancouvervolleyball.com) covers this territory. Also contact the BC Volleyball Associa¬tion (604-291-2007, www.bcva.ca). And there’s a Vancouver Gay Volleyball Association with a busy league program (604-290-0133, www.vgva.net). Its Web site says it’s open to all.
Volleyball is also center court at the Web site of the Vancouver Sport and Social Club (www.vancouversport.com, 604-879-9800).
But the club also offers hockey, kayaking, Ultimate, and the more challenging sport of socializing.
One of the more bizarre sports going, and popular in Vancouver, is Ultimate — sometimes referred to as “Ulty.” This practice of flinging a plastic disc — and ideally leaping and catching it — is accompanied by the deeply held philosophy that the world would be a better place if people were less hung up on regulations and hyper-competition. Ultimate goals and technical infractions are generally sorted out among the players; self-policing and honest reporting is germane to the sport. At the conclusion of the game, players usually come out with a goofy song or bit of doggerel. (They must be exhausted; this is phe¬nomenal exercise on various fronts.) Leagues, including coed ones, run year round. For everything you need to know, visit www.vul.bc.ca.
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