Child 1 Age 9 - 13 (Female)
Program(s) focused in Volleyball
(5) Overall experience
Our daughter started as a complete beginner in EVP's youth development program. Even from when she was 9 years old, she always returned from the program excited, happy, and expressing that she had fun, while also learning a lot. As the years have progressed, those feelings have only gotten stronger and multiplied. She has not only developed as an athlete in the skill of volleyball, but has learned a lot about teamwork, cooperation, communication, active listening, and how to learn from a variety of different styles of coaches. We have continued to send our daughter back to EVP because the coaches are engaged, caring, and encourage the athletes to develop, support each other, and handle both winning and losing.
(5) Reason for choosing the program
We had heard wonderful things about EVP programs from other parents in our neighbourhood and were attracted by the variety of levels of programming that EVP could support. There are other great volleyball programs in our area but EVP always landed at the top of our discussions with other parents and EVP appears to be the only one with a tremendous amount of different programs that cater to different abilities - everything from complete beginner to the very top of the sport and intervening levels that other organizations do not appear to be able to support, resource wise. The experience has definitely been worth the investment as our daughter commenced at only having a mild interest in volleyball to it becoming her two favorite sports. The programs are surprisingly cost-effective as compared to other programs (we live in Oakville, where everything seems to be quite expensive, and we find EVP to be very well priced).
(5) Program quality and activities
EVP has supported our daughter in each and every level of the sport that she has achieved so far, and looks to be identifying her talent quite close to the time that we, as parents, and her school coaches or other program coaches, have also started to see her blooming and blossoming as an athlete. We also feel like EVP's beach volleyball camps are excellent. Our daughter expressed that she wasn't as interested in day camps anymore when she turned 10/11, but she still always wants to attend EVP's day camps because they specifically cater to the 11-14 age group, and that is a rare thing to find. We have been so happy with the regular programs and with the summer camp programs. They manage to develop her skills while also having her return home with new friends and a ton of fun stories.
(5) Social dynamics and experience
Our daughter has certainly made new friends and definitely strengthened existing friendships with her existing friends from school or other programs. I am very centred around psychosocial development, especially as it pertains to girls, and have been very happy with how EVP handles inclusion and is on top of encouraging tween and teen girls to support one another and lift each other up.
(5) Skills and growth
Our daughter's confidence has grown so much since the first time she joined an EVP program - not only as a volleyball athlete, but as an athlete in general. We have noticed that this has spilled over into body confidence, leadership confidence, and has resulted in her taking more initiative at school and in other sports. The coaches are great at meeting the athletes where they are at, while still pushing them out of their comfort zone. Our daughter has never been interested in trying out for "rep", but as a result of EVP identifying her as a potential prospect, this has created a feedback loop when she just joined the house league program in 2025 and has moved up to Academy in January of 2026 and was just invited to a Select division last week, causing her to also feel more engaged with the sport and more confident.
(5) Staff/Instructors/Counsellors
Our daughter plays another sport, so we kept her in the once-per-week development program for quite some time, and she did not even do that every term; however, she would come home quite pleased that a coach she wasn't aware of knew her and called her by her name. We have noticed that now that she attends more regularly, she gets a lot of wonderful, personalized feedback that accords with her specific personality type. Another shout out is to EVP's admin team - they are efficient, effective, timely, and engaged. We are so grateful to them for being so on top of everything!
(5) Advice and tips
The only advice I would give to another parent considering this program is to let the staff "do their thing" in terms of identifying where the best place for your child might be. My husband and I are both former high-performance athletes...but not in volleyball. We have allowed our daughter to grow at her own rate and have let EVP have the opportunity to identify where she might be in terms of level, rather than pushing our ideas onto our daughter. This has resulted in organic growth for our daughter and a sense within our family that her choosing volleyball as her main sport is a reflection solely of her own love for the sport.
My daughter has truly enjoyed the full range of EVP volleyball programs, from the summer camps and house league programs to the Select house league she is currently enrolled in. Each stage has offered...
My daughter has been part of an EVP rep team for two years. She participates in clinics, practices, and tournaments. Her experience has always been positive, thanks to the coaching staff and her teamm...
