Ottawa, ONTARIO, April 6, 2006: Volleyball Canada is pleased to announce they have come to an agreement with Glenn Hoag as the new men’s national team coach. Hoag, known for his play on the court during his time with the national team, and more recently his success as a professional coach in France and at the Universite de Sherbrooke, agreed to a two-year contract earlier this week with an option to extend for an additional four years.
“We are obviously very happy to have Glenn for this position,” said Caroline Sharp, Director General of Volleyball Canada. “Glenn’s professionalism, his track record as a coach and the support of the athletes that will play for him is bound to provide a great working atmosphere, one that we hope will produce some great results for Canada.”
Hoag, a former member of Canada’s national team (1981-86), was an integral part of the program when they produced Canada’s best ever result, finishing fourth at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Since then he has had a successful career as a player and now as a coach. He has coached professional teams in Europe -- most notably Paris Volley, whom he led to an historic Triple Crown of French Cup, European Champions Cup and French Championship -- had success as an assistant with the French national team program and has been coaching since 2003 at the Universite de Sherbrooke.
“I’m very happy with my decision,” commented Hoag. “The challenge will be great and I’m looking forward to working with the entire volleyball community in Canada. I was in Winnipeg recently for the future prospects evaluation camp and was impressed with the talent and the commitment the support staff has for this program. I look forward to putting all this talent and energy to good use along with our returning players and help this team reach its ultimate goal.”
Hoag will be put right into action. With the team returning to the Canada Volleyball Centre in Winnipeg in the coming weeks, he will have little time to choose his players and prepare for an exhibition series against China from May 16-18. Then on to the Pan-Am Cup (Mexico in June) and America’s Cup (Brazil in September) before the team will begin preparations for the 2006 World Championships, starting November 17 in Japan.
Canada will play Serbia and Montenegro, Russia, Korea, Tunisia and Kazakhstan in Pool D, based in Sendai.
