Rod began his volleyball career coaching when he started his teaching career in Mission in 1973. After three years coaching grade eight junior boys and girls, Rod moved to Kelowna and began coaching senior boys volleyball at KLO Secondary. From 1978 to 1998 he coached the KLO senior boys to 19 provincial championship appearances. His impressive record included four AAA and one single A gold, three AAA and one AA silvers, and four AAA and 1 AA bronzes. Rod took his coaching to the national and international level where he was the Assistant Coach of the BC Pacific Rim team at the 1987 Canada Games Team. He became the Head Coach of the Pacific Rim Teams with trips to Hawaii, Japan and Australia. Rod helped develop a provincial ranking system for the BC High School Boys Provincial Championships. By introducing a weekly top-ten ranking system for AA and AAA boys’ volleyball, it made the championships for volleyball more friendly and less of an endurance challenge. In 1999, Rod pursued a new coaching challenge – post-secondary – by becoming the Head Coach at the Okanagan University College. His success continued as he led the team to silver and bronze at the provincial level and won a bronze medal at the national level. Rod was also a provincial level official and was the allocator for officials in Kelowna from the mid-80s to 1999. Rod received several awards during his volleyball career including a lifetime membership in the BC School Sports Volleyball Association, BC High School Coach of the Year, and induction into the Central Okanagan Hall of Fame in 2015.

Listen to Rod’s Hall of Fame Induction Podcast HERE