For the past two decades, Calgary has been the home of to large scale volleyball tournaments—but few will approach the scale of the supranational tournament being held at the BMO Centre for three weeks in 2026.
That tournament is expected to draw 18,000 participants and over 27,000 spectators, making it by an order of magnitude one of the largest sporting events to be held in the city’s history.
The 2026 Youth National Championships will be held from May 21 to May 31, with 15U Girls to 18U across four events.
“Calgary has long been an important partner for Volleyball Canada, and we’re incredibly excited to bring our flagship national championship back to the city,” said Sandra de Graaff, Director of Domestic Competitions at Volleyball Canada.
“We’ve been breaking participation records for more than five years now, and with the upgraded BMO Centre and unwavering support from our volleyball community, we’re poised to deliver another unforgettable Nationals experience for athletes, families, and fans alike.”
Alisha Reynolds, CEO of Tourism Calgary, said that the tournament would once again be a very busy time for hotels and a very busy time for all of Calgary given the number of visitors.
Whereas we just saw 16,000 delegates from Rotary and 140 different countries around the world represented, that was in a four day period, this will be over three weekends.”
She said that getting that size of event in Calgary, was the result of the investments that had been made to unlock visitor economy opportunities for the city, such as the BMO Centre.
The estimated economic impact from the event is expected to exceed $22 million.
Carson Ackroyd, Senior Vice President of Sales at Tourism Calgary estimated that the tourment would also be an opportunity for the 1,150 partner businesses of Tourism Calgary.
“The Volleyball Canada National Championships is a premier event, and Tourism Calgary is thrilled to be welcoming this large-scale event to our city. Our ongoing partnership with Volleyball Canada has afforded us the opportunity to have a front-row seat to some of the best competition in North America, and this is no exception.”
For more details on the 2026 Youth Nationals, see volleyball.ca/en/competitions/2026-youth-nationals.
