Indoor: Vancouver to Host 2020 Men's Olympic Qualifier

The Maple Volleys qualified for the Olympics for the first-time in 20-years in 2016. Can they do it again and go back-to-back? Photo: FIVB

Volleyball Canada has announced Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum will host the NORCECA Men’s 2020 Olympic Qualifier January 10th-12th 2020.

The Maple Volleys will be joined by 🇨🇺Cuba, 🇵🇷Puerto Rico and 🇲🇽Mexico to play a round robin format tournament, with the top ranked team grabbing one of the final tickets to the big dance in Tokyo. Canada finished 3rd at the NORCECA Championships in September, falling 3-1 to Cuba in the semi-finals.

Canadian fans will remember that last time we hosted this event where Canada also lost to Cuba 3-0 in Edmonton in 2016, before qualifying for the Olympics for the first-time in 20 years at the Last Chance Qualifier in China. Unfortunately this time around there won’t be a last chance; they’ve got one more chance to qualify for their second-straight Olympics, something the program has never done.

The event will also fittingly mark the 10-year anniversary of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where the figure skating and short-track speed skating events were held. Here’s hoping some of that Olympic Magic will rub off on the Maple Volleys, so they can overcome some demons.