LAKELAND – It was 2017 when Kale Seguin invited some friends over to his parents’ place to play some volleyball for his graduation party.
At the time, he didn’t know that what started as a casual game would evolve into a tradition of giving. It’s a cause that still rallies today, and a cause that Seguin and everyone involved with hopes to keep going.
Volleyball is a big sport in Seguin’s family, who live in the County of St. Paul. Seguin, his brother Brett, and his cousin Tyler, all grew up playing volleyball together.
After 2017, “We kept it going year after year,” Seguin recalled. “I think it was [around] 2020 when] we decided that we were getting enough people where we had to move to a different location so that we could get multiple courts going.”
From then on, the tournament only got bigger. “We realized we had a great opportunity to do something really cool with this large gathering of family and friends,” he said.
So, they decided to turn the volleyball tournament into something bigger and support a worthy cause at the same time.
The volleyball tournament started raising money for the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation. This year was the fourth year fundraising for the foundation.
“We’ve now expanded to four beach volleyball courts. We pull concessions. Everybody camps out every weekend, and this year, we raised a little bit over $25,000,” he explained.
This year’s tournament was held from Aug. 9 to 11 at his grandfather’s farm.
Since its beginning, Seguin said the volleyball tournament has raised about $73,000.
Why the Stollery?
Seguin said they chose the Stollery Children’s Hospital Foundation because the children’s hospital touched his family’s life and the lives of many who are part of the event.
“Everybody... or everybody knows somebody... who spent some time in Stollery,” said Seguin, including his brother Brett.
Volleyball teams at the fundraiser tournament also love to get behind the cause, because it’s not uncommon for one or two people from each of the teams to have spent some time at Stollery when they were children.
Among those people is Robert Williams from Lac La Biche. Seguin said Williams has been playing at the fundraiser tournament for four years and has always been the top fundraiser.
“And I think that has a lot to do with his personal story and how the Stollery saved his life,” said Seguin.
William spent some time at the Stollery when he was 16 years old due to a sledding accident. While he may have been in the older age category of those who spent time in Stollery, he said, “I was old enough to see how good the people are there. It’s an awesome place.”
So, every year, when the tournament is just around the corner, Williams speaks to friends and family to raise awareness about the cause, and he also spends a lot of time going to local businesses in Lac La Biche seeking support or sponsorship.
And to see so many people giving their support is amazing, said Williams. He thanked all the businesses and everybody in the Lakeland community who has donated.
“It’s going to a good place.”
Seguin agreed.
“Even over the years of just fundraising for this amazing foundation, we’ve learned, I believe, that over 40 per cent of their patients come from outside the Edmonton area, and some of them from even outside of Alberta,” said Seguin.
He also thanked all those who volunteered their time to help organize the tournament.
“It takes literally hundreds of manhours to prep... do all the networking... and all that we have to do to get the tournament going,” he said.
It is not an easy event to organize, said Seguin and it is certainly not a one-man show. The event is only possible with the support of the broader Lakeland community.
“We want to keep doing it every single year as long as we can.”
