UBC Alumni Blair Bann Looks to Dig for Gold at the Continental Championship
Watch for Canada’s defensive standout in Langley later this month
Langley, BC September 12, 2013 – After a year spent travelling the world playing professional volleyball and competing for the Men’s National Volleyball team, Blair Bann can’t wait to get back to BC to compete in front of friends and family, this time wearing the jersey of team Canada. From 2006-2011 Bann was a standout defensive player at the University of British Columbia as a member of the men’s volleyball team. Bann was named the best libero in the CIS for three of his five seasons and last summer in his first year with the senior national team he was named the best digger at the Pan American Games in Mexico. This September 23rd-28th he will be competing at the Continental Championship, which are held every two years and feature the best teams from North and Central America and the Caribbean region.
“There is a great volleyball community out in BC and this is an excellent opportunity to have our home crowd behind us,” said the national team libero, “I am looking forward to showing everyone back in home what we have developed over the past few years.” Canada has indeed had some impressive results recently, with wins over the Olympic champion Russian team in 2013 and over world #1 Brazil in 2012.
The United States has been the team’s biggest hurdle in recent campaigns. The team is looking to make up for a big loss in 2012 against the US that would have qualified Canada for the London Olympics. Blair has faced the USA on a number of occasions. “We have had some intense battles against the US when I was with the National B team at Pan Am Cup competitions…. At the start of a new Olympic quad it is important to get the upper hand as we look to qualify for Rio in 2016.”
The team is looking to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1992, when Canada finished 9th in Barcelona. The United States, ranked #1 in the tournament, will be the biggest challenge to the Canadian team but Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico will also give the Canadians all they can handle. Canada plays Mexico in preliminary rounds at 8pm on Wednesday, Sept 25th.
Bann, 25, is starting his career with the senior national team just as the team is climbing the world rankings and improving with each season. “Our coach, Glenn Hoag, expects us to be on task and perform at each and every practice and that has helped us develop our skills and our focus as athletes,” said Blair. “Our recent successes can be attributed to the impact that our younger athletes have had on the senior team after spending a year training in Gatineau (at the National Training Centre) after their university careers.” This summer, Canada moved up seven spots to #11 in the world. “The first win we had that I was a part of on the court against the Netherlands was a big moment for me and it was our first World League win of the season.” The team finished 8-2 in World League pool play with wins over the Netherlands, Korea, Portugal, Finland and Japan and qualified for the six-team World League finals in Argentina. “Just making the World League finals and then to win against Russia was a huge step forward for us.”
The winner of the upcoming Continental Championship will qualify for the 2013 Grand Champions Cup to be held November 19th – 24th in Japan. The event will once again feature the best teams in the world fighting for the world #1 ranking. If Canada is able to qualify for Japan it will be an important first step as the team looks to continue to move up the rankings on the road to the Olympics in Rio.
Notes:
Blair Bann studied kinesiology at UBC and credits current UBC coach Richard Schick for his development as a player.
About the NORCECA Continental Championship
Nine teams from the FIVB’s North and Central America and Caribbean regions will participate. Among the top men’s teams in the round-robin tournament are the United States (#5 FIVB, #1 NORCECA), Cuba (#5, #2) Canada (#11, #3), Puerto Rico (#20, #4), and Mexico (#23, #5).
The Canadian team is currently in the midst of a two-week tour in Europe for training and matches. Although the final lineups have yet to be released, the Canadian team includes several BC natives, including captain Fred Winters (Victoria), setter Josh Howatson (Victoria) and leftside Gord Perrin (Creston).
Full tournament schedule: http://www.langleyeventscentre.com/continentalvolleyball
Tickets: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/Norceca-Mens-Volleyball-Continental-Championships-tickets/artist/1865380
Webcast: http://www.langleyeventscentre.com/events/video-streams
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/2013-Norceca-Mens-Volleyball-Continental-Challenge/599576243388977
Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.ca
The 2013 NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship gold-medal team qualifies for the 2013 FIVB Grand Champions Cup to be played November 19th to 24thin Japan. The NORCECA Men’s Continental Championship is held every other year. Cuba is the defending champion; Canada finished third at the last event.
NORCECA is the continental confederation that represents its 35 member countries at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) level. The Confederation is responsible for, among other things, the staging of Olympic and World Championship zone qualification tournaments, as well as Continental Championships for both men and women in Indoor and Beach Volleyball.
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For more information:
Brian Hiebert
Communications Manager
Volleyball BC
604-364-2660
