Volleybond Weekend
The 2nd Annual Volleybond Tournament was a BIG Success!
The Volleybond event on Sunday, June 26th started the 2022 summer season with a bang! It was an incredible event that engaged 150 youth, parents, and community partners for a day of family and fun!
Director Leti Valdez and her team of 12 committed Coach Mentors, part of the program’s 2022 youth jobs cohort (#LeadershipThroughSports), made sure the event was organized and impactful, starting with a morning park cleanup, followed by 8 hours of family volleyball games and healthy connection for 150+kids and families. In true Beyond Volley fashion, the memorable day included music, food (a Kona Icee truck!), prizes, trophies, face-painting, and even a slip-n-slide! Thanks to all the wonderful families who helped, together with the Lawrence Firefighters who also took part and played and even got their faces painted (see above!).
After Lawrence was shut down for so long due to Covid-19, it is obvious that more opportunities to come together around healthy, family-centered activities like this are needed!
SAVE THE DATE for 2023 - Sunday, June 25, 2023!!
Read about Beyond Volley’s 1st Volleybond experience in 2021, and why it was started!
Sadly, due to Covid-19, many important community events weren’t able to happen. To make up for those loses, the Beyond Volley leadership Team hosted its first-ever “Volleybond Weekend” at the O’Connell South Common Park on July 30, July 31st and August 1, 2021, impacting hundreds of players and families!
Day 1: Park Hero’s Day, was dedicated to the community, cleaning the O’Connell Park and other local parks, including Kane and the South Lawrence East parking lot. A highlight was connecting with program participants from Lawrence nonprofit, YDO, during their Friday Field Day. They even joined the cleanup, participated in a cleanup ending volleyball clinic where our summer youth hire team taught them volleyball basics.
Day 2: The “Open Category” Day included more competitive play between Beyond Volley high school and college-aged alumni, plus other experienced volleyball players, including a team that traveled from New Jersey. Although it was open-category focused, with the women’s Beyond Volley team earning 2nd place, the day also offered many activities for kids, including a bouncy house and volleyball clinic. The highlight was playing on the City’s first-ever multi-sport court that includes 2 volleyball courts.
Day 3: The Family Tournament was extremely memorable, with Beyond Volley families (Beyond Soccer too!) playing in a fun, carefree, all-day tournament. The Family Tournament is open to kids and adults of all ages! It also included other activities like a dunk tank, prizes, music, prizes, and Icees!
“It allowed us to bring a fun-filled community event to the City after a really tough time of disconnection. I liked how each day brought something different to the park. I especially enjoyed the family tournament day. My mom, sister, cousin, and neighbor formed a team and played together all day. We could not stop smiling.”
