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After an absence of over two years, the gym at Robert Service High School was once again filled with the trill of whistles, the booming of spikes, and screams of excitement. DIVT has returned.

The Dawson Invitational Volleyball tournament (DIVT) has been a highlight of聽 the school volleyball season for 42 years. With COVID-19 canceling the event last year,聽anticipation was high as teams prepared聽to travel to Dawson and compete with each other for聽DIVT bragging rights. Tournament organizer David Rawlings was faced with many聽challenges in putting the tournament together, including new COVID聽restrictions,聽and聽almost daily changes in聽registrations.聽In the end,聽although high schools from Whitehorse chose not to attend, the tournament went ahead, much to the delight of coaches from rural schools.聽

Darian Meadows is the volleyball coach from Pelly. He said his team has been looking forward to this since April.聽

鈥淭his year鈥檚 DIVT tournament is a tremendous opportunity for us to build on the momentum that was聽 started聽last spring鈥� said Meadows. 鈥淐armacks hosted a rural schools volleyball championships, and the kids were just so excited to keep playing ever since then. They have been practicing hard three times a week.鈥�

The Eliza Van Bibber Wolverines鈥� hard work paid off. For the first time in recent memory, the school team recorded a win on the volleyball court.聽 聽

鈥淵es,聽the kids were thrilled with the win,鈥� said coach Meadows. "But this tournament means so much more than that. It鈥檚 an opportunity to develop life skills, like time management, working as a team member,聽and a measure of independence. For others, it was an opportunity to meet other athletes, and see volleyball at a higher level. It gives them something to聽work towards. They are already working toward next year. I am so proud of these young men and women.鈥�

Also bringing a large contingent to the tournament was Watson Lake High School.聽Volleyball features prominently in their school culture, and coach Tiffany Picketts said聽attending this year鈥檚 DIVT was especially important.聽

鈥淥ur community has been through so much in the last year,鈥� said Picketts.

鈥淲e were devastated when events were cancelled last year, and we are so grateful to Dawson for hosting this event鈥澛� 聽

Picketts went on to say that the teams fundraised over $5,000 to be able to attend the tournament.聽 聽

鈥淭he whole community got behind our efforts. They supported our car washes, our carnival day, bottle drives, dinners, etc. They all knew it was really important for us to have this positive experience.鈥澛� 聽

Over 30 students and staff made the long trek from Watson Lake to Dawson.聽

Other Rural volleyball teams attending were Haines Junction and Carmacks.

Both teams showed a very high level of play, and look forward to competing in the YSAA Schools Championships. The Junction finished second in the Senior Girls category, and Carmacks captured second in Junior Boys.

The host school,聽Robert Service, won the Senior Girls category, as well as the Junior Boys.聽They also had four teams entered in a grade 7-8 jamboree. I caught up with tournament organizer, David Rawlings, as he was leaning on a broom during clean up.聽He had these reflections.

鈥淚鈥檓 so glad this tournament happened,鈥� said Rawlings. 鈥淣ot only does it provide a competitive atmosphere for teams to test their skills, it is an opportunity for our staff and students to show what they are capable of pulling off. I am especially proud of our senior students, who were instrumental in ironing out the many details,聽as well as all the younger students who helped as linesmen and scorekeepers.聽

鈥淭his year,聽with聽schools from Whitehorse not attending, the tournament had an all-rural vibe. The moment that defined the tournament for me this year, was when the song YMCA came on the loudspeaker during the warm up.聽All four teams stopped playing, and broke out into a spontaneous line dance. It was a moment of pure joy.鈥�

聽With reviews like that, we can only hope this tournament lasts another 42 years.

鈥揝ubmitted by Peter Grundmanis