Keith Wasylik has had a major influence on the sport of volleyball, positively impacting athletes, coaches, and administrators, in the province for over 35 years. Keith started his volleyball career in Winnipeg and was an accomplished athlete. As a member of the University of Winnipeg varsity team, he captured three Canadian Interuniversity Championships, and was later inducted into the Manitoba Hall of Fame (2016). Keith was a member of the Canadian National Team (1972-1974, 1977), and won a bronze medal at NORCECA Championships.

After his playing career was over, Keith moved to Ontario in 1981 where he became the Technical Director for the Ontario Volleyball Association, a position he held until 1990. During his 9 years with the OVA, Keith made a significant professional impact on the growth and development of volleyball programs delivered in Ontario. Since 1990, Keith has continued to be involved and is a true representative of the OVA's mission and vision through his continued coaching involvement, as a clinician, mentor, technical and club coach in grassroots, high performance (Team Ontario, Canada Games Teams) and national athlete programs (Youth National Team, Junior National Team). Keith was an internal part of the leadership program at Madawaska Volleyball Camp as their Technical Director and helped develop innovative resources to train and certify coaches that attended camp.

Keith has contributed to coach education by developing resources, facilitating courses, mentoring and by providing feedback during the pilot phase of Volleyball Canada's NCCP coach training process. He has delivered more technical coaching courses than any learning facilitator in the province. It is not possible to count the number of coaches that have been impacted by Keith.

If coaching wasn't enough, Keith has found the time to rise through the ranks as an indoor official and currently holds the rank of a Level 4 National Referee. Keith is truly a life-long learner of our sport and continues to develop and share his passion and knowledge of the sport on all levels and is an excellent ambassador for the Ontario Volleyball Association.

Pat Davis

Builder

Pat Davis is a builder in every sense of the word. She was a proponent for gender equity in a time where females were looked upon as "second class" citizens. Pat was a basketball player turned high school coach that transitioned to post-secondary athletics by joining the University of Waterloo Athletic Department in 1967. As a former coach, she brought that competitive experience to a post-secondary institution. Pat was a founding member of the Ontario Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Association (OWIAA), which brought together for the first time all the Ontario Universities. Pat Davis Complemented a minority of women trying to fight social bias, institutional obstacles and lack autonomy in female athletics. In 1978, Liz Hoffman and Pat Davis submitted to OWIAA a proposal to insist on equal or at least forty per cent representation for women in the new CIAU, but unfortunately at the time it fell on deaf ears. Throughout her career, she would continue to advocate for the empowerment of female athletics and to improve the representation and status of women in university sport.

During her career at University of Waterloo, Pat chaired the OWIAA's Constitution Committee, History and Philosophy Committee, and the CIAU's Constitution Committee. Pat also coached the University of Waterloo's Athena Volleyball team for almost 20 years (1967-1985). Over this time frame, her overall winning percentage was 65% and her coaching record in league play was 78%. Pat coached the Athena volleyball team to three first-place finishes, five second-place finishes and three third-place finishes in OWIAA competition. Off the court, Pat was the Women's Athletics program coordinator between 1967-1978 and was the Assistant Director of Athletics for Finances and Facilities from 1989-1994.

Outside of the University of Waterloo, Pat found time to develop coaches across Canada by being the Coaching Chairperson of the Canadian Volleyball Association from 1975-1978. At the provincial level she lead the Coaching program as the Coaching Chair of the Ontario Volleyball Association. In addition, Pat worked with high performance athletes in Ontario and was the Coordinator of the Ontario Provincial Team development program.

Mike Bugarski

Builder

Mike Bugarski (1936-1992) was a National Official, Provincial Official's Chair, clinican, club and high school coach. He was a volunteer that unselfishly contributed thousands of hours to the development of athletes and leaders in the sport for more than two decades. To recognize Mike's contribution to the sport, the Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) annually hosts the Bugarski Cup for all members to compete in. Also the OVA presents the Mike Bugarski Coach of the Year Award to recognize a coach annually who contributes to the development of our sport, exemplifying Mike's outstanding dedication to Ontario's club system.

Diane Ratnik-Cooper

Athlete

Diane Ratnik was a force on the volleyball court for over 20 years. She started her early career at the Scarborough Titans Volleyball Club (1977-1982). She won multiple club Canadian Championships (1980 Juvenile and Junior, 1982 Junior National Champions). Diane played at the University of Michigan and remains one of the most decorated members of the Michigan volleyball team in history. She earned a starting spot as a freshman and the All Big Ten Award, as she helped lead the team to the conference championship in 1981. In 2009, she was inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor.

After her university career, and without any Provincial Team experience, Diane was named to the Canadian Women's National Team. She wore the maple leaf between 1982-1996, serving as Captain from 1985-1988, competed in many World University Games, Norceca Championships, World Cups, Pan American Games (1983 and 1987) and the 1986 World Championships. Diane played in both the 1984 Los Angeles and 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. Originally a middle player during her career but after the 1984 Olympics, Diane did the unthinkable and switched positions to become one of Canada's best setters and remained in that role right into the 1996 Olympics. She is a member of the Volleyball Canada Hall of Fame.

Diane lives by OVA's Volleyball For Life motto as she played many years in USVBA and CVA National Championships outside of her national team tenure. Also she has coached, been a volleyball clinician, volunteered and coordinated many National and International Beach Volleyball events as she continues to influence the sport she loves.

Janis Vilmanis

Athlete

Born in 1943 in Latvia, Janis Vilmanis and his family emigrated to Argentina in 1948, where he showed soccer talent, however, his family then moved to Toronto in 1961. In Toronto, Janis started his volleyball career with the Central and Broadview YMCA teams. The teams were top ranked in the country and he came to be recognized as one of Canada's best volleyball players earning multiple all-star and most valuable player awards.

Janis joined the Balmy Beach Canoe Club in 1996 and that year they were the Ontario Champions. With his dominance as a player he contributed to the Balmy Beach Club establishing themselves as a top ranked team nationally. In 1967 and 1968 they were the Ontario and Canadian Champions and again Ontario Champions in 1969. Janis also played in international competitions. He played for the Team Ontario All-Stars in the International Volleyball Tour of Canada held at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, October 22-23, 1965. He wore the maple leaf and was selected to the Canada's National Team for the 1963 (Sao Paulo) and 1967 (Winnipeg) Pan American Games.

John Child & Mark Heese

Team

John Child and Mark Heese are Canadian beach volleyball legends who over their 11 year partnership accomplished many firsts. The pair brought home Canada's first ever bronze medal in volleyball at the inaugural beach volleyball Olympic event in the 1996 Atlanta Games; they won Canada's first FIVB International World Tour gold medal in Berlin 1996; and they also won silver medals at two World Tour events in 2000, and 2002. The duo amassed over 40 top-five finishes on the FIVB World Tour, with 16 podium finishes, and an amazing 8 National Championships to their credit.

The three time Olympians (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) were internationally respected and played a tremendous role in putting Canadian beach volleyball on the map. Nicknamed the "Crazy Defenders", the pair were known for their defensive prowess and their never say die attitudes; and in 2005, Mark Heese was awarded the Most Inspirational Player Award as voted by his peers while on the World Tour.

John Child and Mark Heese were beach volleyball partners from 1994 until John retired in 2005 and it goes without saying that John and Mark and two incredible athletes who created one of the best teams in the history of beach volleyball in Canada!

Fran (Wigston) Eberhard

Coach

Fran (Wigston) Eberhard has been playing, teaching, coaching and officiating athletics at all levels for more than five decades. A professor emeritus at the University of Western Ontario, she is truly an icon in women's volleyball. She coached UWO women's teams to seven provincial and three national championships and was a player herself on three national title teams in 1966-67 and 68.She coached London Kineldiego senior men's volleyball squad from 1973 through 1975 and led the national women's volleyball team in the 1973 World Student Games in Moscow. Fran also coached the London Junos team from 1971 to 1975, winning the Ontario senior women's title in 1973-1974 and reaching the national finals in 1974.

Fran (Wigston) Eberhard occupies an important place in the development of women's sport in Canada, and her highest belief that her athletes become even better people than they were sportswomen speaks volumes about her infectious and impressionable character.

Merv Mosher

Coach

Merv Mosher has been recognized as one of the leading volleyball coaches in Canadian history for the past four decades. Merv has taught, developed and fostered the love of volleyball in young athletes on many different platforms across the international stage, university and youth club teams. Merv was head coach of York University from 1979 to 1997. He revolutionized the women's volleyball program, accomplishing an outstanding record of 192 wins and 17 losses. The team qualified for 18 consecutive appearances in the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) Championships capturing 13 OWIAA gold medals and 5 Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) bronze medals. Merv was a 10-time Coach of the Year within the OWIAA, named the Coach of the Year for CIAU in 1984-1985, and received Coach of the Year from the Ontario Volleyball Association in 2009. Furthermore, Merv was inducted into the York University Sport Hall of Fame in 2002 and received the NCCP Community Coach Developer Award in 2015.

Merv has played an active role with the National team programs serving as both a head and assistant coach from 1980-1991, participating in the NORCECA Junior Championships, World Junior Championships, PAN-AM Games, Olympic Games, Goodwill Games and the World Student Games. At the youth club level he coached from 2003 to 2018 at the Storm Volleyball Club.

Aside from coaching, Merv is an active volunteer with Volleyball Canada, the CIAU and the Ontario Volleyball Association. He's been a contributing editor and technical advisor for the NCCP volleyball-coaching program and is an Advanced Development Coach evaluator and Master Learning Facilitator. Merv Mosher has been an essential component in the development of the sport of Volleyball across Canada. With his calm, thoughtful demeanor he continues to coach young athletes today and his legacy will continue to impact volleyball in our province and throughout the country.

Sylvia Jaksetic

Referee

Sylvia Jaksetic was a pioneer for female referees in Ontario. Sylvia refereed for over 25 years and achieved her National badge in 1998 and her FIVB Beach Referee status in 1999. She first attended a beach volleyball referee course in Japan in 1997 and worked in many events of NORCECA Confederation Circuit besides the World Tour. During her distinguished career, Sylvia officiated 192 matches on the FIVB World Tour and her indoor and beach assignments took her to every province in Canada, as well as abroad to Japan, Italy, South Africa, Brazil, Bermuda, Guadeloupe, Brazil, Norway, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and China. Domestically, Sylvia officiated events such as Volleyball Canada Championships and NTCC's, CIS and CCAA Championships, FIVB World Tours, FIVB World Championships, FISU Games, Pan Am Games and Canada Games.

In addition to her duties as a referee, Sylvia was a certified Volleyball Canada Referee Supervisor, and served as Referee Supervisor at several VC and CCAA Championships and was the Referee Manager for Minor Officials at the FIVB World League events hosted in London and Mississauga, Ontario in 2007.

Sylvia was very active in several different administrative roles within Ontario Volleyball and Volleyball Canada for over a decade. During that time, she served as OVA Regional Assignor, OVA Certified Clinician, VC Beach Referees Director of Competitions, OVA Regional Officials' Chair, OVA Provincial Officials' Chair from 2005-2011 and OVA Quality Officials' Chair until the time of her passing. Sylvia was very active in developing volleyball and beach volleyball in Canada and left a durable legacy for all referees in Canada as a member of Volleyball Canada Referee Committee and Ontario Volleyball Referee Committee.