Kent
Greves

When Glenn Hoag, the long time head coach of the Canadian National Men’s team, was asked about Kent Greves, he had lots to say, but the summary of it all was that “Kent is the best setter Canada has ever produced”. That says a great deal coming from Hoag.

From his brief collegiate career at Mount Royal College in Calgary where he was named All-Canadian in 1987-1988, Kent went directly to the National team. Kent started his national team career as a member of the Junior National team competing in the World Championships in Bahrain in 1987 and in 1988 joined the senior team and remained as the starting setter until his retirement in 2000. In a remarkable three years Kent went from playing college volleyball to being the starting setter for Team Canada at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. For a dozen years he would continue to lead the National team. 

Kent played over 350 matches for Canada including two World Championships and a World Cup in addition to the Olympics. He was instrumental in Canada’s successes in World League play in 1999 when Canada defeated world powerhouses Brazil and the Netherlands.  Kent also experienced the disappointment of Canada failing to qualify for the Olympics in a last-chance qualifying tournament two months before the Games in Sydney.

Kent played eleven seasons of professional volleyball in Europe including time in Belgium and then in France with the Paris St. Germain Volley. In the span of just five years, he led the Paris Volley Team to an unmatched 10 major titles; a feat that cannot be duplicated by many volleyball players, especially in such a short period.

In his five seasons playing for Paris Volleyball, Kent’s teams set many records. In 2000, Paris Volley was the first team in France’s volleyball history to win a triple crown: winning the French Cup, European Champions Cup, and the French Championship. The following year they then topped their own record by becoming the first team in French Sport History to win a quadruple crown by winning the Triple Crown, as well as the Champions League Cup. The club was coached by Glen Hoag and featured fellow Canadian players Paul Duerden, Jason Haldane, and Sabastian Rouette. 

In 2009 Kent was inducted into the Alberta Volleyball Hall of Fame and following his retirement served as an assistant coach with the University of Calgary.

Glen Hoag summed up Kent’s unique abilities, “His sense of the game, his patience and his control under pressure situations can be compared with the best in the world. The way he was able to create a mental imagery of the history of the match and create big plays at the right time can be compared to the best in the world.”

We are honoured today to induct Kent Greves as an athlete in the Volleyball Canada Hall of Fame; he is most certainly deserving of this recognition for his many years competing for Canada and for his remarkable international career.