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Volleyball Hall calls on Victoria’s Ron Greene

Ron Greene said it isn’t surprising the first three induction classes into the B.C. Volleyball Hall of Fame have had an Island tinge.
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Ron Greene, who is being inducted into the B.C. Volleyball Hall of Fame.

Ron Greene said it isn’t surprising the first three induction classes into the B.C. Volleyball Hall of Fame have had an Island tinge.

Greene, one of this province’s notable builders in the sport, will add to it when he is enshrined with the Class of 2017 on Saturday night in Burnaby. The B.C. Volleyball Hall was established in 2015 with Islanders Vic Lindal and Charles Parkinson previously inducted in the first two classes.

“We’ve had good coaches on the Island who have produced good players who move on,” said Greene.

That’s all the way to the top level with Island players representing Canada in the Olympics from Montreal in 1976 to Rio in 2016.

Greene contributed to that Island volleyball success at the grassroots level. He turned the Victoria Y girls’ program into a dynasty that won the U-18 B.C. championship eight times in nine years and the B.C. U-16 championship seven consecutive years in the 1970s and 1980s.

His teams won gold, silver and two bronze at nationals and produced several players who went on to star in varsity volleyball at UVic and UBC.

“We worked harder in the practices than we did in the games,” said Greene, about his teams’ successes. “I pushed my players reasonably hard, but not impossibly so. It had to be fun, too. The players made a commitment to the sport and the team.”

Greene was also an FIVB-level referee. He had strong international connections in the sport, especially to Japan, and was responsible for many tours between Japanese and Island teams. He was also head of delegation for a Canadian men’s and women’s national teams tour of Japan, South Korea and China.

Despite his accomplishments in officiating and administration, including as president of the B.C. Volleyball Association, it always came back to the bench for Greene.

“I enjoyed coaching the most because volleyball is the ultimate team sport,” said the 78-year-old, who in his other life, was the owner of Capital Iron.

“One player can’t do it for you. There are no LeBrons in volleyball. You need all six players executing well on the court.”

Greene always got his players to do exactly that.