Head coach Glenn Hoag announced the 12 players selected to be part of Canada men’s national at the Tokyo Olympics this week during a training camp in Turkey.

Canada are set to make back-to-back appearances at the Olympics after finishing fifth at the Rio 2016 Games, which marked the country’s return to the event after a 24-year absence. Seven members of the Rio squad made Hoag’s selection for 2021 including setters Tyler ‘TJ’ Sanders and Jay Blankenau, outside hitters Gordon Perrin, Nicholas Hoag and Steven Marshall, middle blocker Graham Vigrass and libero Blair Bann.

“It’s an honour as always to represent Canada on the world stage,” said team captain Perrin. “We’ve spent a lot of time building this team, and there are a lot of people who aren’t on the roster of coaches and players that have contributed greatly. Since we competed in Rio, we’ve gained some valuable experience as well as added some young dynamic players to the roster. I believe we are going to Tokyo to be on the podium.”

Canada nominated setter Brett Walsh, outside hitter Eric Loeppky and middle blocker Daniel Jansen Van Doorn as alternates. The team are fresh from finishing eighth at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.

The team won seven of their 15 matches in the Italian Adriatic Resort of Rimini, and ended the tournament on a high securing victories in all of their final five games.

“We recently ended the Volleyball Nations League with more quality in our play and we want to build on this,” Hoag commented. “The tournament will be tough with all opponents aiming for the same goal of the Olympic podium. Our group has a lot of maturity and this should help us deal with the different distractions and help keep our focus on playing our best.”

After concluding their training camp in Turkey, the Canadians will head to Shiwa, Japan, the final stop of their preparation for the Olympics. The team are in Pool A at the Olympics and will play, in order, Italy, Japan, Iran, Venezuela and Poland in the first stage of the event.

Canada’s Olympic Roster

· Setters – TJ Sanders, Jay Blankenau

· Opposites - Sharone Vernon-Evans, Ryan Sclater

· Outside Hitters – Gordon Perrin, Nicholas Hoag, Steven Marshal, Stephen Maar

· Middle Blockers – Graham Vigrass, Arthur Szwarc, Lucas Van Berkel

· Libero – Blair Bann