Last week the volleyball community sadly learned of the passing of Charles Cardinal, whose dedication and commitment to the development of the of sport volleyball is unprecedented.

Charles Cardinal’s contributions to volleyball began when he was a physical education teacher at the College level in Outremont, Québec. He saw early success, with his first team winning provincial and Canadian East Championships. In 1967, he co-founded the Fédération de Volleyball du Québec (FVBQ) in 1967 and he was the organization’s first Technical Director from 1975-1977.

His career also included being Vice-President of Volleyball Canada (1968-69), National Men’s Team Coach (1970-71), Chairperson of the VC Domestic Committee (1980-1992), Chairperson of the VC National Team Committee (1992-1996), FIVB course conductor (1983-1998), and more. He was a Master Coach and conducted over 80 NCCP coaching clinics – while also co-authoring the majority of the content in VC’s coaching manuals, levels 1-4. He also authored more than 90 books and articles specific to the sport of volleyball.

During the 1976 Games held in Montreal, Charles was the Director of Competition, responsible for the recruitment and development of volunteers for the event – leading to the professionalization of the delivery of volleyball competitions in Québec.

Charles was a professor at Université de Montréal for 26 years, specializing in planning and periodization of training, methods and principles of training and volleyball. He was also advisor to more than 30 students at the Master’s degree level. In the latter stages of his career, Charles was one of the early builders of the “Long Term Athlete Development” program, an initiative that had an impact on a number of sports.

Among his many accolades, he is a member of Volleyball Canada's Hall of Fame.