In April 2025, we sat down with Fred Logan, founder of HOPE, to learn a bit about the history and early days of HOPE Volleyball SummerFest.
Straight from the source, we got to hear some fun stories from the 80s, the beautiful story behind why the tournament was created, and how we just kept on growing!
Questions and answers have been edited for clarity.
Tell us a bit about the history of HOPE?
HOPE started back in 1981. It isn't something that would’ve naturally occurred. It came from an event. And the event was, a kind of a bittersweet tragedy in the lives of our family. I lost my mother to an accident.
I guess that was a sweet aspect about it, was the fact that a lot of very good friends kind of circled around our family, and also our broader family as well.
People are so important, especially during times of crisis. It made me think, of course, about my mother. My mom was very involved in community, and I admired that about her.
For me personally, it was to honour my mother's memory, but it's also to keep the friendships alive on an ongoing basis, but do something in the community.
After all this time, we’ve given over $4.5 million to over 150 charities.
Which is so heartwarming. I mean, you know, for me personally, I just think about - I think about my mom. Yeah. What would have happened if it had not been for that and friends. Early day friends.
But there's been a continuum, and it's been a lot of people who poured into it. And they’ve done a phenomenal job to sort of adding value.
How many teams played in that first tournament?
So, we had 28 teams in the first year. It was a beautiful day and we had to raise $2,900 for the Boys and Girls Club. It was a phenomenal day. And I said, “well, maybe we should make this a keeper and let's do it again next year.” And then from there it just doubled and doubled.
At the very beginning, you're pushing so hard, you know, just to get the involvement of the community. In year five, we made it to 250 teams. We thought, “okay, that this is a fairly significant milestone. You know, can we take this and do more with this?”
And then the idea was, could we become the world's largest beach volleyball [tournament]? So we jumped up to 300 and some odd teams, and then to 400 teams, and we figured that if we could get up to 800 teams, there was no question. We would have the world's largest single day volleyball tournament and we raised a lot of money.
That's what it's all about, really.
Then we had a phenomenal event at 800, and then it was natural to say, “the number which is exciting is a thousand. [We] have to get to that number.” And so we pushed hard … we got to 1000 teams after that.
Who was your favourite headliner from over the years?
It was Dave Kalil, you know, with no prompting. Who came out and played for years, you know, and he had the place hopping.
It was just one person on his electric piano, and, he was very, very. He was a talented guy. [His] heart was in the right place. But there [have] been so many great, you know, performances over the years. And I have to say that, the quality and the profile of talent has gotten much, much bigger since back in the day when I was more involved.
Over the 43 years of HOPE, what is one moment that inspired you?
There's been so many, honestly. I always say my very favourite night - and it’s so true - is actually the night where cheques are given out.
It's meaningful. It really is to me. And I just appreciate the people who get up, and talk about their charities and what the money is going to do for them. And as much as I've always been proud of everything that we've done and the people who have been involved on our side, [I’m] equally proud of what we've been able to enable by people who very quietly, out of the limelight, you know, are doing so, so much on a personal basis.
And, you know, that's what it's all about.
Thank you, Fred, for joining us – and for creating the most incredible charity event in Ottawa! We are just as inspired now as we were back then.
Here’s to 43 more years of HOPE!
