History of the Fort Macleod Volleyball Club

         In 1984 the Fort Macleod Volleyball Club was formed as an organized club but our roots go back much further than that. In the late 1960s and early 1970s people from Fort Macleod would travel to Granum and Claresholm to play Coed volleyball once a week. Fort Macleod residents Bruce Young, Doug Pinder and Gary Perry, along with their spouses, grew tired of making the drive to those other towns and felt there was enough interest by other Fort Macleod residents to start playing here. With the construction of FP Walshe High School in 1969 and its opening in 1970, Fort Macleod now had a full-sized gym to play volleyball so this group of individuals started to organize a yearly tournament as well as informal drop-in nights once or twice a week. Teams from the local RCMP detachment, the Plywood Plant, the Department of Highways, the Legion, the Town of Fort Macleod and local teachers would take part.

By the fall of 1983, there was enough people of various levels of skill participating in these drop-in nights that Bruce, Doug and Gary saw the need to develop a more organized club with an A and a B division. Schedules were drawn up for a season and in the spring of 1984 the Fort Macleod Volleyball Club held its first organized Post Season tournament and awarded the winning teams the very same trophies that the current champions receive to this date. In 2006 the B Division Trophy was renamed the Mary Halbert Memorial Trophy in honor of long time player and Volleyball Club supporter Mary Halbert.

A lot of credit for the success of the league can also be given to Gloria Schwindt and Dave Matlock. These individuals stepped up in the early years and helped Bruce, Doug, and Gary with organizing the league for well over a decade.          

The Fort Macleod Volleyball Club as an organization has played a positive role in our community over its history. Many lasting friendships and memories have been made on the court and over a few beverages.