Press Releases

Canada’s sitting volleyball team makes official international debut August 15

14 August 2007
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (August 14, 2007)—Canada’s sitting volleyball team will play its first-ever official international match on Wednesday, August 15 against the United States. It represents Canada’s entry into the world of international sitting volleyball competition. The USA is the top team in the Pan Am zone.
The Canadian team has played a few “friendly” practice games in the lead-up to the official competition at the Parapanamerican Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which run August 12-19.


José Rebelo, head coach of the Canadian team, was in touch with the Brazilian head coach prior to the tournament, and both agreed that it would be a good idea to get some game time in prior to the actual tournament. Team Canada also scrimmaged with Team USA prior to the competition.

“We came here to play as much as we can, and Brazil and USA had the same idea, so they were both very open to our suggestion of using some of our training time as friendly matches,” said Rebelo. “Cuba dropped out of the competition at the last minute and by doing so reduced the number of matches we would play and this makes up for some of those games.”

Team Canada Roster:
Mikael Bartholdy (Calgary, AB)
Eric Dechaine (St. Lina, AB)
Chad Drummond (Edmonton, AB)
Doug Learoyd (Edmonton, AB)
Larry Matthews (St. Albert, AB)
José Rebelo (St-Hubert, QC)
Paul Rosen (Toronto, ON)
Greg Stewart (Kamloops, BC)

The Parapanamerican Games are held every four years, and the Rio 2007
Games are the first Parapanamerican Games to be jointly organized and hosted in the same city as the Pan American Games.