Volleyball Canada – OTTAWA, ON: Volleyball Canada and lululemon are pleased to announce the renewal of their partnership that brings significant support to Canada’s beach volleyball program. The partnership began in 2015 leading up to and including the Rio 2016 Olympics, where Canada had its best showing ever in beach volleyball with three top-ten finishes.
 
“lululemon is an excellent partner for our beach program – the company is supportive on and off the court in many ways,” said Mark Eckert, President and CEO of Volleyball Canada. “With Volleyball Canada’s new branding and lululemon’s continued innovation in design and materials, we are looking forward to working together toward Tokyo 2020, and helping our athletes perform well and stand out even more on the international stage.”

lululemon engaged Canadian beach team athletes in a collaborative process to create the innovative, technical competitive kit worn by Canada’s four beach teams as they competed in Rio on the iconic Copacabana Beach. The Rio 2016 beach uniforms and accessories were designed to function well in all types of weather; extreme heat, high humidity, cold and rain.  Volleyball Canada and lululemon partnered to produce replica apparel items based on the kit and it sold out quickly at lululemon stores across Canada.

“Since our inception we have been product testing and innovating our designs, fabrics and technologies in collaboration with athletes, and we’re honoured to continue our relationship with Volleyball Canada,” said Michelle Davies, Director of Global Community, lululemon. “Our design process of the athletes’ Rio uniforms allowed us to truly get to know them on and off the court, and also test new technologies and create based on real-time feedback. We’re thrilled to collaborate through to Tokyo 2020.”
 
The new contract runs until the end of 2020. The funds included in the sponsorship will go in part to a player performance bonus program and improvements to the indoor beach training centre in Toronto.
 
In addition to outfitting Canada’s beach team in Tokyo 2020, lululemon will outfit our beach teams that will compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia and the 2019 Pan Am Games in Peru.
 
Canadian teams have been gaining traction on the World Tour and continental circuits over the past few years. The FIVB World Tour resumed this month with a one-star event in Langkawi, Malaysia, followed by a three-star event in Xiamen, China.
 
About Volleyball Canada
Volleyball Canada is the National Sport Organization for volleyball, and has approximately 64,000 registered participants. Volleyball Canada fosters the growth and development of the sport in Canada, and oversees the national programs for indoor, beach and sitting volleyball.  For more information, see www.volleyball.ca
 
About lululemon athletica inc.
lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) is a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company with products that create transformational experiences for people to live happy, healthy, fun lives. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, lululemon works with yogis and athletes in local communities for continuous research and product feedback. For more information, visit www.lululemon.com.

Photo: Michael P. Hall

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender
E-mail: jskender@volleyball.ca
Phone: 613.794.7676