Olympic Qualifiers Part 1
Team Canada 2019
As our very busy summer with Team Canada volleyball comes to a close, I have to pause and write down some of my reflections. We had a lot of ups and downs (mostly ups!) as we navigated throughout all the important tournaments this summer with an entirely new coaching staff. Here I recap what the summer looked like and where we are now!
USMP Lima
#GiveFive
Euro Tour
Team Canada jetted off on our first European tour this past August to play in some exhibition matches against the Turkish, Bulgarian, and German National Teams. We were gone for a total of three weeks; one week in Istanbul, Turkey and two weeks in Rimini, Italy. A tough trip overall with a heavy training and match schedule, but we took major steps forward as a team and now have total confidence heading into World Championships in Japan.
Quarantined!
I can only laugh now. The amount of ridiculous stories I accumulate overseas while playing professionally or traveling for leisure is really quite remarkable. Good thing I have a blog and platform I can publicly complain about it and rope you into my misfortunes. For those of you that did know what was going on, I am out of the hospital now, hooray!
The Next Adventure
Throwback to the summer with Team Canada. It was the busiest, most tiring, and most exciting summer I have ever had with the team. In five months we traveled to Calgary, Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Toronto, Mexico – competing in an exhibition series, Champions Cup, Pan Am Cup (placing 5th - our best finish since 2004), Grand Prix, Pan Am Games, and then the NORCECA Championships.
Summer...Commence!
It’s crazy to me that a professional season can seem like it’s crawling by when you're in the moment… but looking back it can be fully described in a few short sentences when you’re home. How was your season this year? “It was good – started off in Italy but switched to a German team in January due to some financial issues with the club. But yeah, it was good!”
Grand Prix in Peru!
Canada's Womens National Volleyball is heading to the Grand Prix on July 21, 2014 starting in Peru!
The Grand Prix takes place from July 21 - August 23, 2014. 28 countries from across the world will be competing in this year's Grand Prix, which is the first time this tournament will be featuring that many teams.
During the Intercontinental Round, Pools A to O will play matches in three stand-along tournaments, for a total of 9 matches per team. Pool P to S will have 6 matches. Six teams will qualify for the World Grand Prix Finals featuring the top four teams from all matches, plus the winner of the Final Four of Division 2 and the hosts.
- Peru July 21–28 vs. Poland, Peru, and Belgium
- Belgium July 29–Aug 4 vs. Netherlands, Argentina, and Belgium
- Argentina Aug 4–Aug 11 vs. Peru, Argentina, and Cuba
If we make finals in our group, we will be heading to Koszalin, Poland for the final rounds. Our team then gets 1-2 weeks to rest up after Grand Prix (depending if we go to Poland or not).
Stay CONNECTED - we have just recently been informed that all of our 9 games will be broadcasted on SportsNet1 which is very, very exciting!!! You can see under 'Schedule' the dates and times we are playing but I will be sure to post weblinks whenever I can gain access to them!
After the Grand Prix, we are back training in Winnipeg until the World Championships from September 23 - October 12 in Italy!
We are also hoping to travel to Slovenia before World's to get some extra exhibition games under our belt. After World Championships, we (the players) will depart to various countries to continue our volleyball career with our new professional teams.
Professional contracts typically finish up in April and we are back training with the National team shortly after that. Playing overseas on a professional team in Europe as well as the Canadian National Team makes our job a 12 month stint, with no offseason.
Depending on tournaments in the summer, we will typically get one longer break of 1-2 weeks but that's about the longest we have off to physically and mentally recharge. We're in it for the long haul but this summer especially, we have some pretty exciting opportunities which make all the sacrifices and hard work SO worth it.