The 2022 Volleyball Manitoba Awards & Hall of Fame Banquet was held on Sunday, June 12th, at the Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park, a celebration recognizing some of our outstanding athletes, coaches, volunteers and officials.
At the banquet Volleyball Manitoba recognized all Provincial Champions from this past year, All-Stars & MVP’s, National Medalists, the Age Class Players of the Year from each age category as well as the Cheryl Cable, Mark Tennant, Wezer Bridle Golden Whistle and Mary Jean England Coach Awards, among others.
The evening was capped off with the Volleyball Manitoba Hall of Fame inductions, which included Megan Cyr (Athlete), Justin Duff (Athlete) and Don Dulder (Builder).
Congratulations to the following major award winners:
2022 Volleyball Manitoba Age Class Players of the Year:
- 15U Girls Player of the Year Julia Martens (Jr. Bison Gold)
- 15U Boys Player of the Year Gavin Ulrich (WinMan Wolves)
- 16U Girls Player of the Year Sienna Driedger (Jr. Bison Gold)
- 16U Boys Player of the Year Miles Guenther-Hoorman (WinMan Fire)
- 17U Girls Player of the Year Kaiya Krahn (Jr. Bison)
- 17U Boys Player of the Year Luke Lodewyks (204 Gold)
- 18U Girls Player of the Year Raya Surinx (Jr. Bison)
- 18U Boys Player of the Year Rowan Krahn (Jr. Bison)
Mark Tennant and Cheryl Cable Awards for the Junior (20U) Players of the Year:
- Cheryl Cable Memorial Award Winner – Justine Kolody (University of Alberta Pandas)
- Mark Tennant Award Winner – Spencer Grahame (University of Manitoba Bisons)
Mary Jean England Awards – Elite and Developmental Coach of the Year:
- Developmental Coach of the Year – Josh Braaksma (Predators 14U Girls)
- Elite Coach of the Year – Maiya Westwood (Jr. Bison 18U Boys)
Wezer Bridle Golden Whistle Award – Referee of the Year
- George Dearman
Volleyball Manitoba Volunteer of the Year:
- Lisa Whyte (Cats Volleyball Club)
Nikki Redekop Memorial Scholarship Recipients:
- Natalie Lemoine-Sells (18U Jr. Bison, College Jeanne-Sauvé)
- Sammy Ludwig (18U Jr. Bison, Westgate Mennonite Collegiate)
Team of the Year
- Indoor – Jr. Bison 18U Boys
In total, 160 teams competed in our Provincial Championships this year. This is down from pre-covid levels of 200 teams, and we hope to build again to those levels in the coming years. Please know that the accomplishments of all teams this past season are a testament to your hard work and dedication to the sport, and you have our sincere congratulations.
We’d also like to take an opportunity to congratulate all our National Championship Medalists across all Divisions and Tiers and all teams from Manitoba that competed at Volleyball Canada National Championships last month. In total, there were 99 teams participating from Manitoba, of the 1,042 total teams across the country.
Congratulations to this year’s Hall of Fame inductees (click below to expand):
Initially a figure skater while growing up, it was in Grade 5 at St. Andrews School that Megan Cyr first started playing volleyball, quickly falling in love with the game. She continued playing at Lockport Junior High when a coach first told her she had ‘setters hands’. That comment helped give her motivation and confidence in what would eventually lead her all over the world competing at the highest levels.
In those early years with her junior high teams and with the Selkirk Royals Club she started to develop her skills, and then in high school her success on the court really took off. Megan joined the Lord Selkirk Royals Varsity team in her grade 10 year, winning three MHSAA AAAA Provincial titles over her high school career. In grade 11 she was selected as a provincial all-star, and in grade 12 was the provincial MVP, graduating all-star and Winnipeg Sun #1 Player in the province.
Being recruited by numerous universities, Megan chose to take her game south of the border where she accepted an athletic scholarship to the University of Colorado where she competed for two years before transferring to North Carolina State University. At NC State she played every point of 96 matches over her 3 years, finishing with 3,660 career assists, ranking her third overall in school history. She was also the team captain of the NC State team when they qualified for the NCAA Championship for the first time in twenty years.
Megan’s international volleyball experience began in 2006 when she was selected to the youth national team and was again selected in 2008 to the Junior National Team. In 2011 Megan joined the Senior National Team, which began an extensive international career, competing in 86 international matches for Team Canada over the next decade, and playing professionally in several countries throughout Europe.
Additional Highlights of Megan’s international career include the following:
- Member of Team Canada 2011-2020
- 2018 Pan American Cup Bronze Medal
- 2019 Challenger Cup Gold Medal
- 2019 NORCECA Champions Cup Bronze medal
- 2013 Universiade Games in Kazan, Russia – sixth place
- 2014 FIVB World Championships – Italy
- 2018 FIVB World Championships – Japan
- Played professionally overseas in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Greece and Italy.
- Bronze medal in the Swiss League in 2015 with NUC Sagres
- First Place with Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen in 2019-2020 and runner up in the Swiss Cup
Megan retired from international volleyball in 2020 and is currently coaching and now teaching full time after graduating with her education degree from Ambrose University.
Growing up in the Maples in Winnipeg, Justin played other sports before starting volleyball at age 16. At 18 a teammate told him that if he kept improving, he’d make the national team; that small comment made him believe it was a real possibility to compete for Canada… quite the prediction it was.
At the Provincial level, Justin competed with the Winnipeg Strike Volleyball Club from 2005-2007, experiencing success as his teams won three provincial championships, a western Canadian championship, and a national bronze medal. In 2009, Justin represented Manitoba at the Canada Games in Prince Edward Island, where the team lost in the bronze medal match to BC.
Justin was ultimately recruited for volleyball by the University of Winnipeg and competed with the Wesmen from 2006-2010. During these years, the Wesmen competed at the U Sports National Championships three times, winning the title in 2007.
Justin’s international volleyball career began in 2009 when he was selected to the Canadian Junior National Team and competed at the NORCECA Continental Championship in Monterrey, Mexico. This was followed by participation with Team Canada for several years, playing professionally overseas in numerous countries, and culminating by representing Canada at 2016 Rio, when the Team Canada Men qualified for their first Olympics since 1992, losing in the quarterfinals to Russia to finish in 5th place.
Additional Highlights of Justin’s international career include the following:
- Member of Team Canada 2009-2019
- 2010 World Championships in Italy
- 2014 World Championships in Poland, best ever 7th place finish
- 2011, 2013 NORCECA Championships
- 2014 World League, fifth place finish
- 2015 NORCECA Championship Champions (first ever championship for Canada)
- 2015 World Cup
- 2016 Rio Olympics (5th place finish)
- Played professionally overseas:
- Arkas (Turkey) 2011-2013 (League Champions, Cup Finalists)
- Belogorie (Russia) 2013 (First Canadian to be Russian League Champion)
- Pertimina EP (Indonesia) 2013-2014 (League Finalists)
- Lisboa e Benfica (Portugal) 2015-2016 (Super-Cup and Cup Champions, League Finalists)
- Olympiacos SFP (Greece) 2016-2017 (Greek Super-Cup & Cup Champions, League Finalists)
- Espadon (Poland) 2017-2018
- Galatasaray SK (Turkey) 2018-2019 (CEV Cup Finalist, Turkish Cup Finalist)
Justin retired from international volleyball in 2019 and since then has completed his MBA through Western University and now lives and works back Winnipeg with his wife and young daughter.
Given his success as a basketball player, track and field and other sports growing up in Morris, Manitoba, Don’s rise to the upper echelon of volleyball coaching in Manitoba might not have been predicted. However, it is undisputed that the numerous volleyball teams and programs under his direction over the years have been regarded as the best at every level.
As a young teacher starting out in the 1970’s at Niverville Collegiate, Don began coaching many sports including basketball, track and field, badminton, golf, and eventually concentrating on boys volleyball. In order to develop his High School teams, he coached club volleyball out of Niverville for close to two decades, winning many medals along the way at the provincial, and even national championship levels.
After retiring from teaching Don continued to coach at the highest club level in Manitoba, with WinMan 18U team winning provincial gold medals in 2013 and 2014, a national Tier 1 silver medal in 2011, a national Tier 1 bronze medal in 2014, and a national Tier 1 Championship in 2013.
Regardless of the success that his teams experienced, Don continually sought to improve himself as a coach by constantly seeking out opinions from other coaches, attending countless professional development courses in coaching, even to this day he has never stopped being an enthusiastic learner of the sport. Don’s humble nature and humility, all while being a model of sportsmanship and fair play, have made him a very popular member of Manitoba’s coaching family.
Some additional highlights and successes from Don’s career include the following:
- 37 Years of teaching and coaching at Niverville Collegiate
- 22 Zone AA Volleyball Championships, 10 AA Provincial Volleyball Championships (runner up 8 times)
- Last 8 years of teaching at Niverville Collegiate, moved up and competed at the AAAA Provincial level, advancing to the final 8 five teams and final 4 twice
- Served as MHSAA Zone 13 Athletic Council President for 25 years
- Previous Volleyball Manitoba Board member
- Multiple coaching awards and recognition over the years including the Volleyball Manitoba Mary Jean England Coach of the Year in 2013, MVA Honour Society recognition in 2006, MCAC Coach of the Year in 2017 and MHSAA Recognition Awards in 1994 and 2001
In 2014 Don was hired by CMU to lead their men’s team within the Manitoba College Athletic Association (MCAC) where his teams have won the MCAC championship four times (2017, 2018, 2020 & 2022). In 2022 CMU qualified and competed at the CCAA National Championships, competing for the first time as MCAC Champions.
Photos from the Banquet will be posted to our Facebook page. Stay tuned!
