Volleyball is healthy in Quebec. He is also in good hands. Arriving in 2023, the general director of the Quebec federation, Guillaume Proulx Goulet, is full of ideas to grow the sport. Inclusion is at the heart of its ambitions. Because federation does not only equal competition and performance… “Federation equals volleyball for all. »
Published at 6:00 a.m.
It is difficult to quantify the exact number of volleyball players across the province. Between those who play within the Quebec Student Sports Network (RSEQ), those who play directly with the federation's clubs and those who do both at the same time, there are between 35,000 and 40,000. Added to this are non-members, who practice the sport in recreational leagues – a “concern” at Volleyball Québec, but we’ll come back to that…
What we can say without hesitation is that volleyball has experienced considerable growth in popularity in recent years, which can be explained, according to Guillaume Proulx Goulet, by several factors. First, the desire to practice federated sports, and therefore supervised and safe.
The other reason, the one that the general director of Volleyball Québec and his team have focused on in recent years, concerns the diversification of the offer. This is because clubs have long been “performance-oriented”, explains Proulx Goulet, who sat down with The Press in a bakery in the Villeray district of Montreal at the beginning of December. The federation has therefore worked hard to diversify both its offering and its clientele.
“People associated federations with big competitions, championships, tournaments, medals. Yes, we have that, but we don't just have that, he insists. We have the five contexts of practice; we do initiation, discovery, recreation, competition and high level. »
For ten years, the federation has been working on a mini-volleyball program for primary school children. “It’s bearing fruit,” says the CEO. The little ones we trained, they are interested [au sport]. »
While volleyball is one of the sports that attracts the most young girls and teenagers – a segment of the population that we know is difficult to get moving – there are starting to be a few more boys practicing it. .
Currently, the boys do other things, then come play volleyball afterwards, when they have reached their hockey, baseball or basketball ceiling. Now, with mini-volleyball, we interest them earlier.
Guillaume Proulx Goulet, general director of Volleyball Québec
“We see that our clientele is getting younger and more diversified. There are a few more guys. There are new men's categories that we didn't have before in which we managed to have enough players to form teams. »
The popularity of beach volleyball, notes Proulx Goulet, also has its role to play. “There are many municipalities that have built lots of land throughout Quebec. This means that young people will discover beach volleyball and will like it, then in the winter, they will say: I'm going to try indoor volleyball too. »
Proulx Goulet also tells us about Festivolley, an event organized last year at Laval University; 12 indigenous communities from Quebec participated.
“We want to diversify our clientele, so that everyone can play volleyball; all genders, all sexes, all origins. »
Shortage of platforms and coaches
Such growth obviously brings its share of challenges. “We are saturated in terms of platforms,” notes Guillaume Proulx Goulet. “Currently, our gymnasiums belong to school boards and schools. We are dependent on them. »
“We're building a lot of swimming pools, arenas, soccer fields, baseball fields, which is great. But we've forgotten about gyms for years. […] There are no privates or municipalities that own gymnasiums; It's complicated for us to find platforms. »
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, ARCHIVES LA PRESSE
Volleyball is one of the sports that attracts the most young girls and adolescents.
The solution, beyond improving collaboration between the federation and school service centers to maximize gymnasium hours, lies in the construction of “multi-sport and multi-generational complexes,” believes Proulx Goulet.
The volleyball federation therefore began to discuss with other gymnasium sports such as handball, basketball or table tennis, which share this issue. They have, since very recently, been representing the government and municipalities.
Added to the lack of platforms is also the shortage of coaches. With the strong growth of recent years, some young people have found themselves without a coach. “That’s something that concerns us,” confirms Proulx Goulet.
Volleyball Québec is currently working on new training to make this role more accessible; a resolution directly linked to the clientele’s desire for diversification.
“Currently, we require difficult, complex, long training to be a coach because we are used to having coaches for performance teams. »
“There, if we want recreational teams, it takes a little basic training to learn how to manage a group, how to roll the ball. »
Proulx Goulet does not bury his head in the sand; its federation has its role to play in overcoming these two major challenges. In particular, he believes, she must “stop demanding perfection”.
“The super qualified coach, the perfect gym with super high ceilings… When you want to start for fun, maybe a coach trained minimally for fun, who will safely supervise the athletes, in a gym that may not be the most optimal terrain, but it will be safe, that doesn't matter. »
The “federated seal”
At the start of the article, we mentioned Volleyball Québec's concern about players who play the sport in garage or private leagues. On this subject, Guillaume Proulx Goulet has a lot to say.
“It's not supervised, the coaches are not trained, there is no security, we don't even know if the field is safe. That's dangerous. »
I say to myself: we are here, we exist and we have the mandate to supervise it. Use us! Use us. Let's demand that people be united to be able to play a sport.
Guillaume Proulx Goulet, general director of Volleyball Québec
To those who would see this proposal as an obstacle to the practice of sport, Proulx Goulet responds that there is “a way to find solutions” and to make subscription more accessible. “We can change the way we become a member. »
Regarding the position of the Minister of Sports, Isabelle Charest, who “wants to make sport accessible”, Proulx Goulet insists: he “supports it 100%”. “She wants it to be done in a safe environment. The problem is that if you do both at the same time, if you make it too easy to practice sport anyhow, it will no longer be safe. »
Proulx Goulet is not alone in rowing his boat. There was a time when “the federations saw themselves as competitors”. This is no longer the case today, assures Proulx Goulet, who forms a “team” with the general directors of other sports. “We really want it to work, both in terms of having close collaboration with the RSEQ to have a safe environment and with the Ministry. »
Proulx Goulet knows very well that “there will always be private individuals who rent to private individuals”, but he is still of the opinion that “people must look for the federated seal”. “When I register my child in a club, the parent must have the reflex to say: is this club a member of the federation or is it independent? »
“Great plan, great team”
Ultimately, “volleyball in general is healthy in Quebec,” says Guillaume Proulx Goulet. Since his arrival in this position, the general director has embarked on what can be described as the modernization of the federation – hence the change of logo and image, moreover.
As we said above, sport is in good hands; you just have to listen to the 42-year-old man speak to understand him.
“We have challenges, but we are very enthusiastic about the idea of meeting them in the coming years,” he said in conclusion. We have a great plan, a great team and we are very happy with what is to come. »
