Adam Simac and the rest of our Men's National Team will travel to Finland to take on the Fins June 28th-30thThe FIVB has released the schedule for the 2013 FIVB Men’s World League this summer, and Canadian fans will have the chance to watch our Men’s National team take on the Netherlands, Egypt, and Korea on home soil.
They will then travel to Finland, then to Japan to close out the Intercontinental Round of the World League.
Volleyball Canada has yet to announce venues for these three sets of home matches, but as soon as they do, we will be the first ones to notify you.
Canada finds itself in Pool C, a pool they would have to win to qualify for the World League Finals, which have yet to be announced. Both Pool A and Pool B will send three teams to the Finals, with the winner of Pool C and the host rounding it out to eight teams.
Here’s the complete schedule for this year’s Intercontinental Round after the jump
Chaim Schalk (above) and his partner Ben Saxton will have to compete on the NORCECA Tour before getting back on the FIVB World Tour
On Wednesday’s podcast we spoke to Ed Drakich, Volleyball Canada’s Beach Volleyball High Performance Director and a Technical Supervisor for the FIVB. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, scroll down to view the podcast, his interview starts at the 8:14 mark.
The FIVB has exploded with tournaments this year. In the past, the season generally ran from April until the end of August, with a few tournaments running in the fall months. This year, the season will be (potentially) kicked off in March with the World Cup in Brazil (March 20th-24th, To Be Confirmed), and run almost right through to December. Talk about an upgrade.
Not only this, but the FIVB has expanded, with events in Mexico, Argentina, Uganda, UAE, England, Qatar, South Africa, Indonesia, and even the U.S. (For the entire tentative schedule, see it here). It seems as though many more countries are jumping on the FIVB bandwagon.
Glenn Hoag talks to an assistant during a match against Brazil (Photos: Marcelo Rizzo)
After a five-year absence, Team Canada made their return to the World League in 2012. The Canadians finished 12th among 16 squads, playing in the same pool of world number-one Brazil and eventual champion Poland. In the battle for the third place in the pool with Finland, the Canucks were successful despite the Finns being a more experienced team. Canada will play in the 2013 World League, an annual tournament that is essential for the team preparation towards Rio Olympics in 2016.
Kill on Two interviewed head coach Glenn Hoag, the man that has been training the Canadian men’s team since 2006. Hoag, who is also behind the success of the Turkish club Arkas Izmir, has a contract with Volleyball Canada until 2016. He points some positive aspects on Team Canada at the World League, although they had too many ups and downs. Hoag admits they need to do better: “Right now we have too many technical flaws. This is what we will work on.” Check out Glenn Hoag’s interview:
Kill on Two - How do you evaluate Canada’s performance at the World League?
Glenn Hoag - I would say we were good at the beginning and on the last weekend. This was really good for us as we got to assess the team with 12 good international matches. This will be useful as a base for the next cycle.
KO2 - Was any tactical change made for the final leg in Finland?
Hoag - Ciaran McGovern (setter) brought some stability to our offence after we lost Dustin (Schneider) and Josh (Howatson) to injuries. Young Blair Bann did a great job on the libero position. Overall, on the last leg we just found the patience that characterizes our game. We had lost this after Toronto.
More after the jump.