Even a month after Calgary Comic Expo and a month before the Calgary Stampede, the Stampede grounds will be as busy as ever from now until next Sunday.
Throughout the month of May, Calgary’s BMO Centre is hosting Volleyball Canada’s four 2026 Youth National Championships. Nearly 1,500 volleyball teams will be competing across the events, with the tournaments expected to generate an estimated $68 million in economic impact in Calgary.
This weekend, for tournament two, 17U Boys and 18U Boys and Girls will be competing on the grounds.
Kerry MacDonald, the Chief Sport Officer with Volleyball Canada, said that Calgary hosting this year’s tournament was a natural fit.
“The expansion of the BMO Centre has put Calgary on the map as being one of those locations that’s even capable of handling the size and scale of this event, so that’d be the first reason,” he said.
“The second piece, however, is that Calgary has a very rich volleyball history. Our national teams were based out of Calgary for a long time, in the 80s and 90s, and it’s one of the fastest-growing sports in the city of Calgary. It’s also great to come back and support the whole volleyball system of Calgary with this event.”
The 2026 tournament is the largest volleyball national championship to date, MacDonald said, adding that seeing the sport continue to grow is awesome.
Even with the sport’s rapid rise in popularity, the tournament is as competitive as ever.
“(Skill levels are) Higher, we’re seeing it at the younger and younger levels, and we are doing a better job technically compared to what we were doing before, in terms of skill and just level of play,” said Linden Leung, Chief Operating Officer for Volleyball Canada.
Calgary stands alongside world-class host cities
Leung said that the beauty of major tournaments is that attendees get a taste of a new city.
“We want them to come to a certain locale and experience what it’s like to be in that place. Coming to Calgary means not only coming to our event, but also being able to go out for your team meals at great restaurants and also being able to go to the mountains,” he said.
“We’ve got lots of kids here who have never seen the mountains, and unique experiences are a big part of what we’re always thinking about.”
Over 47,000 hotel nights have been booked across the city for the four tournaments, Leung said. Carson Ackroyd, the Senior Vice President of Sales at Tourism Calgary, was not surprised by that number.
“Volleyball athletes are staying straight across the city, everywhere across Calgary has got some volleyball athletes staying in those hotels, which is fantastic,” he said.
“We have an additional 1,000 rooms that have been announced for Calgary that are on the books, one of which has broken ground just across the parking lot here, which is needed for us to be able to continue to grow the amount of visitation coming to Calgary.”
Aside from volleyball, Calgary will continue to host major events, according to Ackroyd.
“This year alone, the Women’s World Curling Championships, we’ve got the world Supercross in August coming, we’ve got the Grey Cup and we’ve also announced hosting the World Cup of hockey in 2028,” he said.
“Calgary has a significant role, because people across the world, and certainly across Canada, are having a great experience when they come to our city, and it’s just going to build on itself as we go forward.”
