Team Canada
The squad includes established veterans such as scoring sensation Gavin Schmitt of Saskatoon, SK team captain Fred Winters of Victoria, BC Steve Brinkman of Bowmanville, who has more than 200 international matches under his belt, Dan Lewis of Oakville and Josh Howatson of Victoria.
Four of the players spent this past winter with the Full Time National Training centre team in Gatineau: brothers Christopher Hoag and Nicholas Hoag of Sherbrooke and Rudy Verhoeff and Graham Vigrass of Calgary.
“We are very excited to be a part of World League for the second year in a row,” said Glenn Hoag, fresh from winning the Turkish pro league title with Izmir, which also included Adam Simac of Ottawa, Gord Perrin of Creston and Justin Duff of Winnipeg (also all on the World League roster).
“This is a very important competition for our program. As we start new Olympic quadrennial the World League will help us gain valuable experience.”
Later this month, Canada will host Turkey in a three-match pre-World League series. The matches are May 15 and 16.
The Canadians returned to World League play last season for the first time in five years and automatically qualified for 2013 finishing 12th overall with three wins and nine losses. The highlight for Canada was its victory over world number-one Brazil in the opening round in Toronto before more than 8,000 fans. Canada also beat Finland twice in tournament play.
Six teams will qualify for the World League Finals in Argentina featuring the top two teams from Pools A and B, plus the winner of Pool C and Argentina as the host country.
Volleyball Canada’s World League roster for the 2013 season (sorted by province)
Alberta: Ciaran McGovern, Dallas Soonias, Blair Bann, Steve Gotch, Rudy Verhoeff, Graham Vigrass
British Columbia: Josh Howatson, Fred Winters, Gord Perrin.
Manitoba: Dustin Schneider, Toon Van Lankvelt, Jason DeRocco, Juston Duff.
Ontario: Dan Lewis, Adam Simac, Adam Kaminski, Steve Brinkman.
Quebec: Olivier Faucher, Louis-Pierre Mainville, Nicholas Hoag, Christopher Hoag.
Saskatchewan: Gavin Schmitt.
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