Five members’ contributions recognized with ‘Diane Wood’ Special Achievement Award

Barbara Rigg-Garbaty has been actively involved in the sport of volleyball for over 50 years. Not only is she an exceptional player, coach, referee, and mentor, but she has also been a pivotal force in the establishment of volleyball in the Sarnia-Lambton community. In every role, no matter the capacity, Barbara has exuded a passion and love of the game which has been evident to anyone who’s had the opportunity to work with her.

The Co-Founder and Co-President of the Twin Bridges Volleyball Club hasn’t slowed down since she was an athlete at Harrow High School, and then for the University of Windsor. As a university sophomore Barbara took interest in refereeing, receiving her certification shortly after and has been involved in the field since. Starting in 1980, she’s been organizing and hosting annual clinics to recruit young players and coaches and since 2012, has been serving as the referee’s convenor for secondary schools in the Lambton-Kent county where she was also a teacher and coach for just over 30 years.

Her just-as-impressive coaching career took off when she founded the Sarnia Women’s Volleyball Club in 1979 where she both played and coached for the Senior Women’s B travel team up until 1987. In this span with the club, Barbara got a taste of the Ontario college circuit when she was hired to the coaching staff of the Lambton College women’s varsity team for a season. She would return to the college two decades later an coach the team once more for two seasons. Barbara is now on the cusp on being fully certified as a Performance Coach and has taken the steps towards the certification.

Barbara has coached well over 2,000 players and 70% of the coaches that have walked through the doors of the Twin Bridges Volleyball Club, never hesitating to train the graduated players who decide to return to their Club as a coach. As one of the hands steering the ship, Barbara takes on a slew of responsibilities to ensure the success of her members and the club. In addition to coaching more than one team each season for the last 16 years as well as for the club’s house league program, she directs the athlete development of her club across all levels and was instrumental in bringing Spikes on the Beach and Smashball grassroots programs to Sarnia. She organizes the gym times for the club’s travel and house league programs, orders equipment and looks after its maintenance and is constantly keeping her coaching staff updated with the current techniques and certifications through many hours put into online and in-class courses.

Outside of the tireless work that goes into the duties as a club executive, it’s often the smaller details that truly demonstrate the passion for the work that you’re in. For example, Barbara will sew fleece volleyball blankets/pillows for the teams she coaches every year. Sometimes it’s those little things that players remember the most. Congratulations, Barbara! Just keep bumping along.