Canada’s Graham Vigrass retires from national team

Middle blocker Graham Vigrass has put an end to a his career with the Canadian national team. The 32-year-old, who participated in back-to-back Olympic volleyball tournaments in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo, finished seventh at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball World Championship and won bronze at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League during a nine-year period with his country’s national team.

At a club level, his career took him to France, where he played for Arago de Sète in 2013-14, as well as to Tunisia, Turkey, Germany and Poland. Highlights included a victory in the Tunisian Cup in 2015, German Bundesliga titles in 2016-17 and 2017-18, a 2021 Turkish Supercup win among numerous other honours.

“There are too many people to thank,” Vigrass said. “First my wife, Kylie, for sacrificing a lot for us to live this life while raising our two boys. Also my family, who have always supported me so much. And to all the coaches I have had, there are too many to name, but they all had a big part in my career. I was very lucky to have such amazing coaches growing up which created my love for the game.”

“I will be back in Calgary trying to figure out what is next,” he added. “I’m looking for a job where I can wake up and love what I do like I have for the last 10 years playing volleyball.”

Vigrass is the second member of the Canadian national team to announce his retirement since the Tokyo Olympics. Gord Perrin stepped down from the squad in November.