The Hoags leave an impression in Poland

WROCLAW, Poland, September 12, 2014 – Glenn Hoag is a veteran of the volleyball men’s world championships with the 2014 edition his third consecutive as coach of the team Canada which is not the case for his son Nicholas, a debutant in such kind of big competition.

With only 14 international matches under his belt entering the world championship in Poland, the young Hoag is making quite an impact at the great scene as a formidable attacker and contributor to the success attained by his team during the first half of the event. 

The 22-year-old Nicholas is currently the third best spiker of the world championship with an average of 57.88 of success behind Germany’s Denys Kaliberda (57.94) and teammate Gavin Schmitt (57.66).

 “I am very happy for him being here, because he can contribute in that way,” Glenn said. “When he was younger I taught him that sport is about having fun while competing.”

The veteran coach, who took part as a player in the 1984 Olympic Games where Canada finished fourth in the volleyball tournament, praised the values of practicing sports.

“Sport is great, because it keeps you happy, especially the team sport,” he said. “So it is fantastic being part of such a huge tournament and now with my son also.” 

The Hoag family isn’t the only father-son duo in the tournament. 

Earlier in Wroclaw, Jon Uriarte, who is the coach of Australia, had his son Nicolas, the setter of Argentina, playing against him, and, of course, the most famous volleyball father-and-son combination is that of coach Bernardinho and the setter Bruno of Brazil.

What does Glenn Hoag think about this kind of relationship in a team?

“For me obviously the matter is how will look the overall of the team. As far as the overall view is good, that situation doesn’t change much for me. Nicholas is a normal player, but is also good for us, because we don’t spend much time together during the year, so this is the chance to spend a little bit more. It’s a nice addition to my job.”

Nicholas added: “It is something special. It was always my dream to join the national team and now it comes true. We both know the difference between in and out of the court - in the court he is my coach, so there is no difference between me and the other players, but after the matches he is my father and we talk about other things.”

As we know every coin has two sides. The father explains that the hardest part of being a volleyball family is the piece connected to the sport.

“When you are educating your kids, you always try to make them the best and you are responsible for whom they will be,” said Glenn. “For me the hardest part was the volleyball part - the teaching and the coaching contributed to the success of the team and Nick being better in different skills. 

“It doesn’t matter that he is my son. He is not a baby anymore, but he will get any help from me, if he asks for it. We try to manage our relationship in that professional way,” he added.

Nick is a young player, so it was easy for him to recall how he started his adventure with volleyball.

“I was around my dad in the gym when he was coaching, but he never forced me to play volleyball. He always encouraged me to play other sports as well, so it was only my own choice to play volleyball. I started playing volleyball when I was seven, but I used to play before that.”

Volleyball, of course, is not a whole world of the Hoag family. When the Canada’s National Team ends the season, they have not much time to share together. 

“I love hunting and fishing,” Glenn said when asked about his off'season hobbies.

“Nicholas is not a big fan of that,” he laughed with his son confirming the fact. “I think we don’t share any other passion or hobby, but we often bring souvenirs from our travels.” 

Story by FIVB.

Written by Elzbieta Poznar, Young Writer Programme