With no inter-school high school volleyball yet announced, Briercrest College is forming their own mini-leagues for the high school-aged kids that will play every Saturday for the next few weeks.

Briercrest College Women's head coach Nolan Weinmaster is one of the organizers.

“With high school sports this fall essentially being canceled, we were hoping to provide an opportunity for players in the area to have a chance to get some volleyball training and some competition in still, and use our college facility here on Saturdays for the mini-league,” he said. “And then we’re able to schedule in an evening skills camp for the last week of October.”

Mini leagues with a maximum 32 male and female athletes per league will have kids in Grades 9 and 10 in one league and Grades 11 and 12 in another. Weinmaster said they applied for approved indoor programming with the Saskatchewan Volleyball Association, which is aligned with the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s protocols.

“All of our participants will have to sign a waiver form and answer a series of questions each time before they enter the gym,” he said. “And then we have a whole list of COVID protocols that we’ll be following in the gym and all the players will stay in one cohort for every Saturday that they come for those Saturday sessions in those cohorts of 32.”

Briercrest is well known in recent years for its quality volleyball program through their college. That knowledge from the players will be passed down to those participating in the skills camp through Weinmaster, women’s assistant coaches Elly Blackaby and Kirsty Abbott, as well as through the team’s players through the mini-leagues.

“It’s a really good opportunity for our players to pass on their knowledge of things they’ve learned and mentor some young women as well,” Weinmaster said.

Briercrest men’s volleyball coach Nigel Mullan will handle the boys' side of things, along with assistant coach Natalie Mullan and ACAC all-Canadian Karym Coleman, along with men’s team players.

Cohorts are 50 or less for volleyball, according to the province’s Re-Open Saskatchewan Plan.

With 32 athletes per cohort in the mini-league, Weinmaster said they’re well below the maximum level. Sessions start Saturday and run for the next six weeks.

They have everyone separated into courts as well that they’ll stay on for their entire time.

They also have a skills camp for the last week of October with five nights of two-hour sessions while their college athletes are in their modular week. Weinmaster will be coaching the girls in the skills camp in the last week of October.

Registration deadline for the mini-league is October 14 at midnight. Registration for their skills camp closes next Wednesday.

Spectators won't be allowed for the games or camp, however. 

To register, email nataliemullan@briercrest.ca for boys and eblackaby@briercrest.ca for girls. It’s $250 for the mini league and $150 for the camp, or $200 if they’re not taking part in the mini league.