It is with deep sadness that we honour the passing of one of the founding members of the BC Volleyball Association, Ray Lepp. Ray Lepp’s passion and dedication to the sport of volleyball is immeasurable and is reflected in the contributions he has made on and off the court over a span of more than 45 years.

In his early years Ray played volleyball in Estonia in a very strong school and club system. Having recognized that the profile of volleyball in Canada was lower he worked tirelessly to increase interest in the sport.

After helping to found the association in 1956, Ray continued to serve as a Board member until 1978. He served as the President and/or Vice-President for 10 of his 22 years on the Board of Directors. The major programs for the Association at that time included recruiting international coaches to BC, the Winfield Volleyball Camp, the Pacific Rim Championships and development of the Provincial Team program to compete in the Canada Games.

Ray coached the University Of British Columbia Men’s Volleyball team at different times during the 1960’s and 1970’s. At one time, 6 players on the Canadian National team had been coached by Ray at U.B.C.

Ray was certified as a National official and officiated many international tournament matches during the Pacific Rim Championships.

Off of the court Ray continued to share his passion for Volleyball with his generous donations to the “Ray Lepp Volleyball Scholarship”. For the past ten years , this scholarship has been awarded to 22 elite female and male athletes who have shown dedication and excellence in volleyball and personal
development.

Volleyball BC would like to sincerely thank Ray Lepp for his continued involvement and outstanding support of the association over the years and we wish to extend our heart felt condolences to his close friends and family.

Services were held on Saturday, October 1, at the Estonian/Finnish church in Vancouver. Ray’s family asked that in lieu of flowers donations be made to Volleyball BC

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