March 04, 2022: Volleyball Canada’s National Excellence Program (NEP) is expanding to include 14-18 of the top youth male athletes in Canada. The program will start in September 2022 at the Men’s National Team Training Centre in Gatineau, QC.

The NEP will provide a full-time daily training environment to U19 male athletes (born in 2005 or later) through to December 2022. The program will include athlete support through academics, mental health and wellness, physical, technical and tactical training.  Athletes would reside near the centre for the duration of the program and would have dedicated, onsite academic to support as they continue their studies online.

“The NEP program is a critical piece of the athlete pathway for our men’s national team towards Olympic and World Championship podiums,” said High Performance Director, Julien Boucher. "The ability to create a culture of excellence with our next generation of national team athletes is an area that we don’t take lightly and know the men’s national team will benefit from this experience."

Men's Head Coach Ben Josephson states: “The ability to work with the next generation for an extended period of time at this stage in their development through the establishment of the National Excellence Program in critical. It’s an exciting time to be coaching with Team Canada and also for anyone involved with volleyball in Canada as we work towards continued Olympic Qualification.” There will not be a Team Canada U19 program in the summer of 2022.

Identification for the National Excellence Program will be through the GMTM Virtual Platform with athletes submitting highlight and game video, along with physical statistics. The deadline for submission will be March 31, 2022 with athlete selection taking place in April.

An open house (webinar) will take place at 7pm EST, on Thursday, March 10 to provide program details. Register here.

• For more information, contact excellence@volleyball.ca or Cassandra Nicol at cnicol@volleyball.ca.

Volleyball Canada media contact:
Jackie Skender
Mobile: 613.794.7676