Oct. 22, 2024: Beach volleyball Olympian and 2019 World Champion, Sarah Pavan, announced her retirement from the national team yesterday.

“Volleyball has always been so much more than a sport to me. It has been my social circle, my safe space, my classroom, my vehicle of self-expression, my career, and my first love,” Pavan said in a statement.

•  View Sarah’s video on Instagram

“I am so fortunate to have had countless people in my corner over the years – coaches, teammates, family, friends, fans, and other supporters – who have made me into the person and athlete that I am, and I am so grateful. I have to give a special thanks to my family and to my husband Adam for believing in my dreams even more than I did, for letting me fly, and for always giving me a safe place to land. I achieved big goals, played on numerous winning teams, and have been part of many winning traditions, but it is the people I shared those moments with and meaningful relationships I made along the way that I will remember most. I wouldn’t be who I am without this game, and it has been a true honor to have been able to call myself a volleyball player for the last 30 years.”

Pavan grew up in Kitchener, Ontario and began playing indoor volleyball at the age of 10 and retires as one of the most accomplished Canadian volleyball players in history, having made her first appearance representing her country at the age of 14 on the Junior National Indoor Team. Pavan made history as the youngest woman ever to be selected for the National Indoor Team at 16 years old before heading to the University of Nebraska for her post-secondary collegiate career.

At Nebraska, Pavan won the NCAA title in indoor volleyball in 2006 and became a four-time, First Team All American, one of only six women to ever do so. During her collegiate career, Sarah was named the 2006 AVCA National Player of the Year, the 2007 NCAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year and won the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year award in 2007 and 2008 before graduating with a degree in Biochemistry with a 4.0 GPA.

Following graduation, Pavan played on the Canadian National Indoor Volleyball Team and in the world’s top indoor professional leagues. She was a silver medalist at the FIVB Club World Championships, where she was named Best Opposite. She was also a two-time Brazilian Superliga Champion and competed in the CEV Champions League Final Four.

Pavan was a professional player for more than a decade in Europe, South America, and Asia before making the major decision to compete internationally in beach volleyball in 2013.

Since making the transition to the sand, Pavan has been a key part of Canada’s women’s beach volleyball international success in the last 10-plus years.

"Sarah Pavan is a two-time beach volleyball Olympian (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) who has won 27 beach volleyball medals representing Canada since 2013 including gold medals at the 2019 FIVB World Championships and two Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022),” said Volleyball Canada’s High Performance Director (Beach) Ed Drakich.

Pavan has inspired countless young players throughout her career and her impact on the sport in Canada is immeasurable.

Volleyball Canada’s President and CEO Mark Eckert said: "On behalf of Volleyball Canada and its board, thank you to Sarah for her extraordinary contributions to the sport of volleyball and beach volleyball in Canada and around the world. From her early national team days to her beach World Championship title, Sarah is admired for her many accomplishments, professionalism and dedication to excellence. We wish her all the best in this next chapter of her career."