Tokyo, April 18, 2006 : On April 6, Volleyball Canada announced the appointment of former national team player Glenn Hoag as the new head coach of the men's team for the 2006 World Championships in Japan.
Hoag, who enjoyed great success in France as a coach, takes part in a Question and Answer session with the official website of the World Championships.
Q: You have signed a two-year contract with the national team. What will be your first priority?
A: Prepare the team for the world championships. Second priority will be to bring back the full time training center.
Q: What is the current state of men’s volleyball in Canada?
A: I think the situation in men’s volleyball here in Canada is stable in certain aspects and there is room for improvement in others. I think we need to do things a little differently with the athletes that finish university. We need to give them the means to compete at the highest level in a shorter time frame.
Q: How does it compare to the level in 1984 when you finished fourth in the Olympic Games?
A: From 1978 to 1984 Ken Maeda brought a strong base to Canadian volleyball and established a training and competition philosophy. I think he was a big part of Canada’s growth in volleyball. I think in some way we need to do the same with today’s reality and take certain aspects of that project to better the level of our game.
Q: Obviously ice hockey is the No.1 sport in Canada. How highly does volleyball rank in terms of popularity and participation?
A: It’s very popular especially in our school system. Beach volleyball is also spread across the country as a summer favorite.
Q: What steps will you take to recruit new players into volleyball?
A: We have already started to identify future athletes with a "future prospects camp" last March. We would like to do the same with our junior and youth programs and widen the base of players to assess their future potential. The second part will be to expose them to the training and competing that is needed to reach the next level.
Q: In the world championships you will play Serbia-Montenegro, Russia, Korea, Tunisia and Kazakhstan in Sendai. What are your chances of finishing in the top four to advance to the second round?
A: If we compete at our best level we should be able to finish top four in our pool, but every game will be a tough fight.
Q: Who will be your key players in Japan, and why?
A: Experienced players such as Paul Duerden, Murray Grapentine, Steve Brinkman, Scott Koskie and Chris Wolfenden will provide us with a good base. To that solid base we would like to add a couple of young talented players.
Q: Canada finished 17th in 2002. What is your target this time?
A: I think top 12 would be a realistic goal for these world championships.
Q: What aspects of coaching you learned in France can you bring to Canadian volleyball?
A: My role as a coach is to make my players perform to their best ability. What I learned in France was to focus on the process to obtain results instead of the result itself. Result is the only thing I have no control of. Training and preparing my team to compete, that I have control of.
Q: As the new coach, what is your slogan or message for the future?
A: The Canadian athletes, the staff and myself will need patience and courage in order to conquer our future challenges.
