This past weekend, nearly 100 youth teams hit the sand at Spanish Banks East in Vancouver, vying for top spot at the Volleyball Canada Beach National Championships.

To be exact, the tournament featured a total of 97 boys’ and girls’ teams in the 14U, 15U and 16U categories. The athletes represented a broad swath of the country, including British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia.

Ontario’s Sophie Hancock was the big winner, striking gold in the 16U girls' category. Earlier this month, she placed first in the 15U girls' bracket at the National Championships in Toronto, with a different partner. 

Throughout the weekend, smoke from the British Columbia wild fires hovered nearby, setting the scene for an epic competition. Luckily, the wind held and the smoke stayed away, allowing the tournament to continue with no stoppages.

Left on Friday - the premium active swimwear brand - was on site during the competition. 

If you missed it, catch some of the action on the Volleyball Canada YouTube page. Full list of medalists below:

14U Boys

Gold - Lepp/ Hughes (BC)

Silver - Tran/ Dmitriuk (BC)

Bronze - Warrington/ Tanno (BC)

14U Girls

Tier 1 Gold - Peters/ Torres (BC)

Tier 1 Silver - Staples/ Staples (AB)

Tier 1 Bronze - Van Vliet/ Galbraith (BC)

15U Boys

Gold - Schick/ Akaike (BC)

Silver - Andersen/ Cheung (BC)

Bronze - Burns/ Duncan (BC)

15U Girls

Gold - Percy-Holland/ Salomi (BC)

Silver - Gillespie/ Li (BC)

Bronze - Albanese/ Csizmadia (BC)

16U Boys

Gold - Panasiouk/ Rakic (ON)

Silver - Navarro/ Marquard (BC)

Bronze - Yan/ Hans (BC)

16U Girls

Gold - Shaw/ Hancock (ON)

Silver - Stevens/ Kirkwood (BC)

Bronze - Yates/ Tsougrianis (SK)

Photo: Fernie Volleyball Club/Facebook