University of British Columbia Athletics

Dale Ohman is very much involved in the past, present and future of the UBC Men's Volleyball program. He was first on the scene as a player on UBC's volleyball team in the mid-1960s. Dale played on the historic 1966-67 men's volleyball team, a team inducted into the UBC Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. This team won the Canada West title and went on to become the first volleyball team to win the CIAU (now U SPORTS) national championship, the first team in Canada to win this title.

This UBC team also represented BC at the first Canada Winter Games and would travel to Tokyo to represent Canada at the 1967 World Student Games. There, Dale and his teammates were introduced to a new style of volleyball played by the Japanese team. The UBC team embraced this style and brought it back to North America, paving the way to the game we are familiar with today.

Dale first coached the men's volleyball team in 1971/72 and 72/73 then resuming in 1980/81 held the position a total of 25 years. In fact as of 2018 he is one of only 6 head coaches in UBC history to coach varsity for 25 or more years. In 1982/83, Dale led his team to the CIAU (now U SPORTS) national championship, the last UBC men's volleyball team to win a national title before winning again in 2018. During his tenure as Head Coach, Dale, in addition to attaining his Masters Degree in Physical Education at UBC, holds a series of impressive achievements and titles including:

• Coaching UBC to Canada West championships in 1983-84 and 1985-1986
• Named Canada West Conference Volleyball Coach of the Year in 1982-83, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1993-94, and 1999-2000
• Named U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Coach of the Year in 1982-83 and 1999-2000
• One of only a handful of people who have ever played for a UBC national championship team and then coached the Thunderbirds to one (others include Mike Mosher and Ron Thorsen)
• Saw nine of his athletes selected to the Canadian National team, including Conrad Leinemann, Chris Frehlick, Brad Willock and Greg Williscroft

Both while coaching and since his retirement in 2003 Dale has been involved in his passion, the sport of volleyball. He mentored a number of top level coaches and has been instrumental in developing boy's and men's volleyball in BC. He has served as both Coach and Men's Provincial Team Chair for the BC Volleyball Association (now Volleyball BC) and on the BC High School Boys Volleyball executive. His dedication to the sport earned him induction into the Volleyball BC Hall of Fame in 2016.

Dale has also continued to be a strong advocate and supporter of UBC's volleyball program. He helped establish a scholarship for men's volleyball and continues to be one of UBC's greatest fans, as he commutes from Chilliwack to be at every volleyball home game, cheering on the 'Birds.

Researched and written by Katie Sloan and Wilson Wong