UBCO Heat celebrate first Pride Night with back-to-back volleyball wins

• Pride Night was years in the making
• Organizers hope to make it yearly occurrence
• UBCO volleyball returning to play after more than a month away

Fans at UBCO’s Furnace Friday night weren’t just supporting the Heat, but also a much wider community effort.

It was the Department of Athletics and Recreation’s first Pride Night as both the men’s and women’s volleyball teams took on the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack in back-to-back games.

Organized by two of the Heat’s own players, Sadie Taylor Parks and Abigail Dueck, it was a long time coming for this event.

“Back in October we were really wanting to lay out what we wanted to get going,” Dueck told Kelowna10.

“We for sure wanted to get the shirts and get some décor around. But we wanted to make it more meaningful than just having rainbow decorations.”

Taylor Parks explained, she first wanted to organize Pride Night three years ago but couldn’t due to the pandemic and other factors.

Working with UBCO’s Equity and Inclusion office, they were connected with Etcetera.

Etcetera is a 2SLGBTQIA+ youth group in Kelowna whose mission is to bring queer youth together in an intersectional, dynamic, and supportive space. They operate out of the Bridge Youth and Family Services.

Last summer Taylor Parks and Dueck began fundraising to buy the special rainbow coloured Heat shirts that both teams practiced in ahead of their matches.

Pride flags adorned the gymnasium, rainbow balloons greeted fans at concession, and Etcetera attended with some of the youth they support.

Pride Night acted as a fundraiser. Fans could buy raffle tickets at the Equity and Inclusion office desk for a chance to win a Heat prize pack. All proceeds went to Etcetera.

The organizers said this is a cause they are both very passionate about.

“Being in the world of sport, it’s often not a very inclusive place for people who are LGBTQ+. So, having a Pride Night at UBCO is really special,” Taylor Parks said.

“It shows that volleyball teams, the Athletic Department, and just UBCO in general, is an inclusive place that everyone can play in and be loved and supported.”

They hope to make this a yearly event.

While capacity limits meant the Furnace could only seat half the possible crowd, more than 400 spectators came to show their support Friday night.

This was the first game for the women’s team since Dec.4. The men’s team played last weekend after also being away from action for over a month.

And as an extra reason to celebrate, both the men’s and women’s teams won their respective games, three sets to one against the Wolfpack.