Winzer Preparing Ahead of Busy 2022 for Women’s National Team

The calendar flipping over to 2022 marked the start of an important year for Canada’s women’s national volleyball team.

Head Coach Shannon Winzer will guide Canada in their second year of the Volleyball Nations League with stakes far higher than the first. There’s also the small matter of the World Championships in the Netherlands. All that with the aim of getting Canada back to the Olympics for the first time since Atlanta 1996.

It was a wild first year for Winzer who took charge of the program from American coach Tom Black. In what could have been a fraught year of unknowns and stress, Winzer credits familiarity within the program for helping her get through the unknown of pandemic-era international volleyball.

Before being named head coach Winzer served as an assistant coach under Black in 2019 and as head coach for the Next Gen team.

Prior to that, the UBC alum served as head coach of the Australian women’s team.

“I think establishing a new dynamic took some time,” she said to Momentum Volleyball. “We had to figure that out on the world stage at VNL. Starting your year on the world stage in the biggest competition in the sport other than the Olympics—that was a challenge.”

Canada finished its first year in VNL with a 3-12 record. That was good enough for 14^th out of 16 teams. In a normal year, Canada would have been relegated as the lowest finisher of the four “challenger” teams. With no relegation at the 2021 event, held in one location in Remini, Italy, Canada was a direct beneficiary of the COVID-enforced changes. They now get a guaranteed second year playing the top teams in the world.

There were some bright spots in Canada’s first foray into the top annual international competition in the game. They took the first set over eventual runner-up Brazil in their opening game of the tournament, and pushed eventual fourth-place finishers Turkey to five sets.

The highlight, undoubtedly, was the thrilling five-set win over China, the 2016 Olympic gold medallists. It was Winzer’s first victory as head coach.

“That was huge,” said Winzer. “Obviously ‘Jenny’ Lang Ping is a legendary coach for the Chinese women’s national team. We beat them in five and I just remember she kind of gave me a bit of a clap and looked at me. It was really cool because she’s a coach I have so much respect and awe for. I’m a bit of a fan. To be successful against them and to acknowledge that we won a good game, I thought that was really important.”

With that first-year mulligan in their back pocket, VNL 2022 will be something of a return to normal. Relegation is back on the table, as is plenty of travel.

“Our second year is going to be completely different from our first year,” said Winzer. “There was no travel component in year one. For year two, the format is going to change and now there’s a travel component.”

“I think it’s going to be a little different this summer.”

The latest format sees more games in fewer venues. That means far less travel than previous years that saw teams dot around the globe every weekend. But there are still two long flights with plenty of volleyball mixed in.

The new season, getting underway in late May/early June, will see Canada travel from Louisiana to the Philippines before heading back to Canada to host games in Calgary.

For help on how to prepare for all that travel, Winzer says she has a few people to talk to, including former men’s national team coach Glenn Hoag.

“He talked me through a lot of things,” Winzer said of Hoag. The 2021 VNL in Italy allowed the men’s and women’s programs to cross paths, albeit from afar due to physical distancing restrictions.

“He checked in on me throughout VNL. So he’s someone I definitely someone I look to for support in preparation in going into this next VNL and having the travel component.”

The Paris 2024 Olympics are the ultimate target and Winzer sees VNL as key to Canada qualifying for the next Games.

“I do think us staying in VNL is crucial for us to stand a chance at Olympic qualification for 2024,” said Winzer. “We need to be playing in the best competitions in the world. It is crucial that we stay up. It is crucial that we don’t get relegated so that we can play in VNL 2023. As a coach, you know it’s that important but how do you assure you’re not putting that level of pressure on the actual team.”

Olympic qualifying is still some time off but the FIVB’s dynamic ranking formula sees the world rankings updated after every game. Every game matters—especially with world rankings potentially determining Canada’s route through Olympic qualifying.

All going to plan, that week of action in Calgary will be a long time coming for the women’s team and the coach.

While there’s plenty of serious business to address, a rare chance to play at home is something to savour.

“I am so excited,” she said.

“I’m very excited to bring the team to Calgary and to be able to play against some of the best teams in the world. It’s very exciting for our sport. I can’t wait. I’m no different to a player in the sense that playing on home soil with the maple leaf on your chest, there’s no greater honour.”