Josephson Excited to Get Going as Canadian Men’s Coach

Ben Josephson isn’t officially on the job until April but that hasn’t stopped Canada’s new national men’s volleyball team coach from already getting down to work.

Volleyball Canada named Josephson as Glenn Hoag’s replacement on November 30. And while he’ll see out the current U-Sports season with Trinity Western University, Josephson is already planning for his new gig.

“In the first two weeks, I need to sit down on Zoom or Facetime or whatever with all the guys and find out if they’re returning, their thoughts and excitement level, how their pro is going and all that stuff,” Josephson told Momentum Volleyball earlier this week. “So far, it’s been incredibly positive. Almost all the athletes reached out after the announcement was made. I think the athletes gave a lot of feedback into this process.”

Stepping in for Hoag is a tough task. Hoag helped guide Canada to two-straight Olympics and famously came back to the program after retiring once when Stephane Antiga stepped aside in the run-up to 2020.

“I think if there’s one thing Glenn is famous for is his tireless dedication to this job and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for Canada,” said Josephson. “When I’m finished with this job, I would love for people to say that about me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Canada and there’s no rock I wouldn’t turn over or an hour I wouldn’t invest into making these players better. I think that’s one of the legacies that Glenn leaves.”

Josephson has plenty of work right out of the gate once he officially gets down to work this spring. He’ll launch right into preparations for the next Volleyball Nations League season that starts in Ottawa in June. After that marathon tournament, it’s a quick turnaround for August’s World Championship in Russia.

From that point on, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the new regime. The delayed 2020 Olympics means a shorter runway ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Josephson will need to prepare for a possible third-straight Olympic berth while at the same time, building the talent pool to make Canada a long-term power in the game.

“I don’t think there’s any way to fully grasp how fast and how heavy the international schedule hits you,” said Josephson. “VNL hits like a truck. You barely catch your breath and then Worlds and then the team is gone, and then before you know it- Olympic qualifiers.”

Josephson is inheriting a program that’s qualified for back-to-back Olympics for the first time in history.

He also takes over a program in transition with players like Gord Perrin and Daniel Jansen Van Doorn having announced their international retirement. Josephson says there could be more players still to announce their retirements but he hopes to keep a strong mix of veterans in competition this summer.

“There’s no substitute for experience. We need our vets to play big minutes,” he said. “We need those guys around as much as possible, so that’s what these conversations are about. Who wants to play and who’s ready to give it another go? It’s a huge sacrifice of time and talent for these men to give another quad to Canada. It’s no small decision.”

Unlike Hoag, who divided his time between coaching Canada and Arkas Izmir in Turkey, Josephson will be a full-time Canadian coach. But Josephson won’t be uprooting his family from the west coast to the Canadian team’s training base in Gatineau, Quebec. Rather, he’ll continue living in Langley, B.C. and travelling as needed for the gig.

It’s a big step up from the university ranks but Josephson won’t be coming into the job blind. He’s been an assistant for the women’s program. Not to mention, with the relatively small volleyball community in Canada and his involvement with U-Sports, Josephson will be familiar with many of the faces already suiting up in the program.

It’s an extra benefit for him that there’s a healthy mix of Trinity Western talent in the Canadian pipeline. He’s going to rely on that familiarity to help him hit the ground running.

“Either I coached them directly or I’ve recruited them all and didn’t get them,” Josephson said. “It’s a small world. I think the familiarity with my former players at Trinity and also the guys who competed in U-Sports in either recruiting or as opponents is a really great advantage to lean on.”

Josephson sees those relationships in the U-Sports community as an advantage. Canada remains hamstrung by a lack of a professional league so in order to keep up with the global powers, everyone has to be pulling in the same direction.

Josephson’s U Sports resume is impressive. He’s coached TWU to five national championships. He’s also been U-Sports coach of the year three times.

He sees his experiences in the community as a boon to getting the varied programs on the same page.

“It’s 32 programs with professional coaches—each of them having 15-20 athletes with resources of strength and conditioning and sports science that we can utilize,” said Josephson. “The more we mobilize the U-Sports development system to go in conjunction with the training centre-based model that we have currently, I think the blend of those two is an area we can upgrade and take advantage of in a new way. Another strength I’ll bring to the table is that I have relationships with most coaches.”

Josephson admits it’s bittersweet to leave a TWU program where he’s seen tremendous success and contributed many players who have gone on to play for Canada.

He says, though, that if there’s one job that softens the blow of leaving, it’s the national team post.

“Hearing the anthem, wearing the flag on your shirt and representing Canada on some nine-by-nine square in some weird country is kind of a dream come true. I have to pull back and remember we’ve got a million things to do before then. That moment will be pretty special. It’s something I’ve dreamt about basically since I first bumped a volleyball.”