Joe Ryan in the Official & Coach Categories
BRENDA MILLAR:
The name Brenda Millar is synonymous with Sport on all levels on Prince Edward Island. Brenda has worn many hats in the sporting world such as athlete, administrator, coach, official and everything in between!
Growing up in Port Hill in western PEI, Brenda was a multi-sport athlete who played basketball, badminton, field hockey, track and field and volleyball. She represented PEI at the National level as an athlete in 1973, playing field hockey at the junior field hockey nationals in Ontario, the senior field hockey nationals in BC, and as a member of Team PEI for field hockey at the 1973 Canada Games in Burnaby, BC. In 1974, Brenda was also a member of UNB Field Hockey Team where she completed her post secondary education towards her bachelor of physical education.
Upon completing her education Brenda got a Phys. Ed teaching position at O’Leary Elementary and while teaching there she also coached the Tignish Regional High School Field Hockey team to the Provincial Championship in 1978. Moving to Westisle Composite High School, Brenda was the school’s Athletic Director and Phys. Ed teacher from 1979-1995 where she coached many sports (Field Hockey, Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton, Softball, Track & Field) over the years and capturing provincial championship banners for Softball in 1984 and Track & Field in 1995.
Coaching the Volleyball Wolverines, coach Brenda was in a coaching battle with fellow VPEI Hall of Fame inductee John Bowness at KISH and as such she coached her team to multiple PEISAA silver medals over the years.
When the PEISAA season ended annually, Brenda coached multiple West Prince Islanders Volleyball Club Midget and Juvenile teams throughout the 1980’s and early 90’s, and over the years, her West Prince Islander teams attended several Eastern Canadian National Championships. Brenda also joined forces with John Bowness in 1991 to co-coach the Midget Crusaders made up of West Prince and Kensington girls at the Eastern Canadian Nationals.
Provincially, Brenda used her coaching expertise to Volleyball PEI where she was the Assistant Coach of the 1987 Canada Games Women’s Indoor team and Head Coach of the 1989 Canada Games Women’s Indoor Team. Brenda never had a gap of more than a year or two before she was coaching again as she coached the 1995-1996 Kinkora Regional High Blazer women’s team when she was teaching at Kinkora.
When Brenda moved down east after retiring from her teaching position she started coaching in Charlottetown, first with the 14U Girls Cobra Club in 2015 where she had the opportunity to coach her godchild Jessica. She also coached the 2016 Red Mudd girls and coached the provincial 17U team in 2016 that went to the Eastern Elites in Newfoundland. Next up for Brenda was managing the 2017 Canada Games Women’s Indoor team that went to Winnipeg. Brenda was a strong presence both behind the bench and behind the scenes administratively lending her expertise to the young coaching staff.
Over the years Brenda has held numerous positions in our organization including:
1989-1993 Volleyball PEI - Secretary (Board of Directors)
1989-1993 Volleyball PEI - Director of Women’s Programs and leader in the development of the first Constitution and By-Laws for our Association.
1993 Volleyball PEI - named our Coach of The Year
2009 Director of Indoor Volleyball PEI Canada Summer Games
2013- present Volleyball PEI - Official
2016 Volleyball PEI - Administrator of the Year
2015-2017 Volleyball PEI - Secretary (Board of Directors)
2015 Volleyball PEI - named an Official of the Year Finalist
2017 NCCP Certified Advanced Development Coach for Vball
2017- 2022 Volleyball PEI - President (Board of Directors)
2017-present Volleyball PEI – Chair of Officials’ Committee;
2017-present Volleyball PEI – Div. Coord. for Spring League 18U Women & U14 Girls and Senior Women division
2018 Sport PEI - named Administrator of the Year through work with Volleyball PEI
Congratulations Brenda on being inducted into the VPEI Hall of Fame 2022 class in the Coach & Builder categories!
JOANNE MACADAM
Joanne MacAdam (nee MacKinnon) started playing volleyball in 1972 in Grade 7 at the age of 12 years old. At that time, she was chosen from a group of talented PEI girls to join the Zut team which played out of the YMCA. Starting mid-fall of 1972 her team practiced on average 4 times a week and played matches every other weekend in the Atlantic Volleyball League.
Tommy Cusack was the coach of this initial team and he had many interesting ways to teach us how to play volleyball. Joanne remembers distinctly when he asked her to start setting/passing with a basketball!
In 1973-1974 Joanne was 14 years old and not the tallest player by any means at 5 feet 4 inches, but she could set the ball on a dime to her targets! Phil O’Neill was now the coach of her Zut team. By 1975, Joanne was the starting setter at 14 years old on the 1975 Canada Games women’s team (coached by Tommy Cusack). She played alongside players that were 5 years older!
In 1979, Joanne returned to the Canada Games for a second time. Joanne’s team (Charlottetown YMCA’s Zut) was regarded as the top junior team in Atlantic Canada. They competed in the Atlantic Volleyball League which was comprised of all senior teams (with the exception of the much younger Team Zut). They finished 4th out of 8 teams and this league experience helped to shape their success in the Maritimes in both the juvenile and junior divisions. The league played matches every 2nd weekend across the region.
The Charlottetown YMCA Zut team were crowned the Atlantic Juvenile Champions defeating Nackawic 2 games to 0 (15-4, 19-17) in the Atlantic Championship held in Charlottetown in 1973-1974 and then two weeks later duplicated this feat at the Atlantic Junior Championship held in Amherst, NS where they once again defeated Nackawic with superb ball control and an excellent hard hitting offense. Joanne was a key member of the team quarterbacking the team’s offence from her setting position. Following the regional tournaments, Joanne’s Team Zut capped off a very successful season by finishing 5th at Junior Nationals with Joanne as their starting setter and the following year, in 1975, they finished in 8th
Joanne played high school volleyball for coach Myron Weeks at Colonel Gray High School and continued to play club volleyball with Team Zut. In 1977, at the age of 16, Joanne was selected as an All-Star at the Atlantic Volleyball League Senior Tournament which was made up of club teams for University and all-star Senior Teams from the Atlantic Provinces. The other 7 teams in the Atlantic Volleyball League included: PEI Pythons (out of Summerside), Dalhousie Grads, St. FX, Moncton, Dalhousie, UNB and Acadia. Joanne earned many travel miles in her volleyball career and by the age of 18 had played at 5 Junior Nationals, 2 Juvenile Nationals, and 2 Canada Games.
After her junior volleyball career concluded at the end of High school, Joanne headed to UPEI where Phil O’Neill got a club team going during her 1st and 2nd years as a Panther. By her third year at UPEI, Donna Sears was now the coach and the team was a full-fledged member of the AUAA league. In Joanne’s 4th year at UPEI, her second year in the AUAA league (in 1981), Joanne was named an AUAA All Star and was also named UPEI’s Volleyball MVP.
Joanne played her 5th and final year at UPEI and then continued to play competitive indoor volleyball until 2019 in our Volleyball PEI Provincial senior women’s competitive league, winning the provincial championship numerous times with her teams. She also played beach volleyball with numerous different partners over the years, winning many Cavendish Beach Volleyball Tournaments and other Atlantic events.
Joanne also influenced our next generation of volleyball players coaching at the Intermediate level while she built her career as a teacher. She also became a proud “Volleyball Mom” who had the pleasure of coaching and supporting her three kids as they played volleyball throughout their school years.
Congratulations Joanne on being named a 2023 Inductee into our Volleyball PEI Hall of Fame!
JOE RYAN
Joe Ryan has been involved with the sport of Volleyball for 43 years. First as an athlete, then as an official and then with coaching. Joe started playing the game in 1979 and…
Joe started officiating in 1985. Progressed in levels from 1985-88 (Level 1, Level 2). He obtained his Level 3 in 1998 and his Level 4 (National) in 2006. To this day Joe is our only Level 4 National official.
Joe was the first Island official to work at a National Championship when he did so at the 2002 Juvenile Nationals. Joe officiated at Canada Games in 2005 in Regina, and the Canada Summer Games 2009 on PEI.
He also officiated in Several National tournaments including : 12 National Age Class tournaments; 2 Canadian College Athletic Association (CCAA) College Championships, 5 ACAA Volleyball Championships
Became the Regional Officials Chair (ROC) for PEI in January 2002 where he worked to develop a recruitment and development strategy for Island officials. Joe continues to hold this title on the Volleyball PEI board of directors to this day and is the officials liaison between the PEI School Athletic Association, Volleyball Canada, and Volleyball PEI.
Joe is also a Level 1 and 2 learning facilitator for officiating and continues to evaluate and mentor officials as they rise through the provincial ranks.
Joe was named the Sport PEI “Official of the Year” in 2007
Joe started coaching on the coaching staff of the 1987 Canada Games team in Saint John, NB. He also was on the coaching staff of the 1989 Canada Games team in Saskatoon, SK, and the 1993 Canada Games team in Kamloops, BC.
He started coaching High School in 1988 and continued to the year 2021 where they won 8 Provincials PEISAA Championships.
Joe also coached UPEI Women’s Volleyball Panthers from 1993-1998 and then started coaching the Men’s Volleyball Program at Holland College from Winter of 2009 – 2017 where they won 1 Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) Men’s Championship – First was the first volleyball championship in the School’s History.
While at Holland College Joe was named:
- 2 time ACAA Men’s Volleyball Coach of the Year
- 1 time Coach of the Year at Holland College
- 1 time - Sport PEI “Coach of the Year” Nominee
When Joe wasn’t coaching or officiating he spent his “free” time on the Organizing Committee for Canada Games in 1991 and 2009 and was also a member of Team PEI’s Canada Games Mission Staff in 2017 in Winnipeg.
Joe and his wife Paulette live in Sherwood where they raised their three kids. Joe was able to coach his boys in High School at Charlottetown Rural and Holland College. His son Dominique is continuing in his dad’s footsteps as an official while his son Nolan has taken over coaching at Charlottetown Rural.
Thank-you Joe for all you have given and continue to give back to the sport of Volleyball in PEI!
Congratulations Joe & Welcome to the Volleyball PEI Hall of Fame
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