Ken Mastel is being inducted into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame as an Athlete/Builder for his college and university careers playing volleyball and for the over 40 years he has spent coaching volleyball, dedicating countless hours to the youth of our community.
Mastel has always loved sports. Growing up in Richmound, Saskatchewan, he played every sport possible including baseball, fastball, hockey, curling, badminton, tennis, racquetball, track and field and of course volleyball. Being a natural athlete, he excelled in all sports, but volleyball was close to religion in Richmound. The high school team from this tiny hamlet could compete against the biggest city schools. After his family moved to Medicine Hat, Ken was known as an exceptional curler and competed in two Alberta Provincial championships by the age of 16. But after graduating from high school, curling had to be put on the back burner when he was offered scholarships over the next 5 years to play post-secondary volleyball.
Ken played on the Medicine Hat College volleyball team for two years (1979-80, 1880-81). Both years he was named captain, MVP, and selected as an Alberta College Athletic Conference All-Star. He was also selected as the college’s Male-Athlete-of-the-Year in 1981.
Then, Ken transferred to the University of Calgary with a desire to play with the best, and he made “The” team - the number one nationally ranked Dinos as an unrecruited walk-on. The next three years Ken played for the U of C Dinos. During this time, the team was never ranked less than 4th in Canada. Coached by 1976 Olympian John Paulsen, the Dinos won the Canada West and the National Championships in 1982.
During his three years with the Dinos, in addition to playing against Canadian Universities, he also competed internationally against top university teams from the United States, Japan, and Mexico. There were also occasional opportunities to train with the 1984 Olympic Men’s team as they were based in Calgary. In fact, his very first match in a Dino uniform was against the Canadian Men’s National Team. He competed in “open” nationals on three more occasions.
In 1986, Ken graduated from university with BPE and BEd degrees and he was hired to teach at Pigeon Lake Regional High School and to coach volleyball. He enthusiastically called his first volleyball practice in the first week of school. Pigeon Lake teams had never been to provincials. But that was about to change. In six of the next seven years Ken coached teams to provincials, compiling some incredible winning streaks. Suddenly, the Pigeon Lake Panthers were competing on even footing with the biggest schools in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer, Lacombe and Wetaskiwin. A new winning culture had arisen in this small school much like his old days in Richmound.
After seven years at Pigeon Lake Regional, Ken moved to Sacred Heart School in Wetaskiwin. There he coached many league championship teams. For a few years, he was recruited to coach the WCHS boys’ volleyball team. Future Team Canada Captain and WCSHF inductee Murray Grapentine was one of his players. In 1992 and 1993, Ken was selected by Alberta Volleyball to coach the provincial U16 boys’ team in the Western Canadian championships. In 1992 they won gold and in 1993, bronze. Over the years Ken has coached at numerous volleyball camps including the elite International U of A/AVA Jasper volleyball camp.
Even though he is officially retired, he still gets calls to help coach or consult for teams. In the past two years he has helped coach the WCHS senior girls, the junior high teams at Sacred Heart, the Beaumont High School senior boys’ team and also the U18 Camrose Vikings girls’ volleyball club team.
Ken had an amazing college and university volleyball career topped off with a national championship, all-star awards and international play. He then used this experience and skill to successfully mentor athletes from across the province, but especially for the last 40 years in the city and County of Wetaskiwin.
As an adult Ken played fastball with the Wetaskiwin Traders and the Millet Thunder Clubs and they won several silver provincial medals. He was an outstanding pitcher and hitter and played into his 40s.
Many of us know Ken for his involvement in our performing arts community as someone who was instrumental in founding the Manluk Theatre and for his drama and musical talent. It is impressive that he was also able to contribute to the youth of our community by coaching and mentoring in both arts and athletics. His accomplishments make him more than worthy of being inducted into the Wetaskiwin City and County Sports Hall of Fame. We applaud his dedication and effort; the volunteer hours he has committed to coaching and the positive role model he is in our community.
The 2025 Induction Dinner will take place on April 5, 2025 at the Best Western Wayside Inn Banquet Room in Wetaskiwin. Invitations are open to everyone and banquet tickets are available for purchase at the Wetaskiwin and District Heritage Museum. The deadline for purchasing tickets will be March 29.
