Canada's newest national volleyball team has been training since late April, when they received word that they had a spot in the Parapanamerican Games. The team will be competing against the top teams in the Pan Am Zone, including the USA and Brazil, as well as relative newcomers Cuba and Costa Rica.

For the third time in as many months, the team will be holding its training sessions at Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton.

"Glenrose has been very supportive of our sitting volleyball program," said Volleyball Canada's Technical Coordinator Phil Allen. "We have developed a very good relationship with them - one we hope to replicate with other organizations in the country as we move forward in popularizing the sport."

Aside from the athletes travelling to the Parapanamerican Games, the camp will be attended by several Glenrose clients, as well as two members of the Canadian Forces. Sergeant Karen McCoy and Captain Kimberly Fawcett first found out about sitting volleyball in May 2007 through the new 'Soldier On' program, which is a joint Canadian Paralympic Committee and Canadian Forces initiative to introduce injured Canadian Forces members to Paralympic sport.

"Sergeant McCoy and Captain Fawcett have expressed interest in our women's sitting volleyball program," said Allen. "And until we have identified enough female players to run an effective women's team training camp, we are more than happy to offer this training opportunity to them."

The team travelling to the Parapanamerican Games will be a small one - eight athletes and one team manager.

"We have a small roster, but we have a team that has very good volleyball skills, and this weekend we will be working on the technical elements of our game - we have a lot of work to do but we are excited about facing the challenge!" said José Rebelo, Head Coach of the Men's Team.

Coaches Rebelo and Larry Matthews spent last weekend in Oklahoma, as special guests of USA's Men's Sitting Volleyball Team at a training camp. They were invited to attend practices and to take part in drills, which proved to be an excellent learning opportunity. "We were able to come back with some great ideas - ways to adapt drills and to make things more efficient - it was a very useful trip," said Matthews.

Training Schedule:

Location: Glenrose Rehabilitation, Hospital Gymnasium
10230 - 111 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta

Times: Friday, July 13: 19h00 to 21h00
Saturday, July 14: 9h00-10h30, 13h30-15h00, 17h30-19h00
Sunday, July 15: 9h30-11h30

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Media Availability Session:

Also, on Friday afternoon, beginning at 14h30, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital will be hosting a Media Availability Session. Media are invited to come and find out more about Sitting Volleyball and to interview National Team athletes and prospects.

National Men's Parapanamerican Games Sitting Volleyball Team 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 (Montréal, QC)
Paul Rosen (Toronto, ON)
Greg Stewart (Kamloops, BC)
Phil Allen (La Pêche, QC) - Team Manager