Canada’s Women’s NextGen Team is currently in Mexico preparing for the Senior NORCECA Pan Am Cup. The tournament runs from August 16 to 26 in León and Irapuato, Guanajuato. The Canadian team arrived on August 11 for three exhibition matches with the Mexican team, in preparation for the tournament.
The NextGen Team has been training at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Richmond, BC since May 22 under the direction of NextGen Head Coach Carolyn O’Dwyer and has recently been working with Senior A coaching staff (listed below) as O’Dwyer and her assistant coaches Janelle Rozema and Craig Marshall return to their U SPORTS programs.
Senior Women’s Head Coach Shannon Winzer is leading the team with assistants Vincenzo Mallia and Matt Krueger. Senior team middle blocker Layne Van Buskirk was added to provide leadership and experience to this young roster.
“As we now look toward the Olympics in 2028, it is even more crucial that we accelerate the development of targeted athletes by providing them with full-time high-level training at the national training centre, as well as giving them the opportunity for meaningful international competition such as this one,” said women’s head coach, Shannon Winzer.
The Women’s Pan American Cup provides FIVB World Ranking points, and is a qualification competition to the 2025 Women Pan American Cup, the 2025 NORCECA Women Continental Championship and the 2027 Pan American Games.
To begin the tournament, Canada takes on Colombia in Group A on Aug 18 at 5:00 pm local time.
Canada’s Roster:
- #1 Kat Georgiadis (L) – Scarborough, ON
- #6 Lauren Attieh (OH) – Abbotsford, BC
- #7 Layne VanBuskirk (MB) – Windsor, ON
- #16 Abby Guezen (OH) – Sherwood Park, AB
- #18 Julia Arnold (L) – Winnipeg, MB
- #20 Lucy Borowski (OH) – Vancouver, BC
- #22 Averie Allard (S) – Winnipeg, MB
- #23 Emma Boyd (MB) – Yellowknife, YT
- #27 Nyadholi Thokbuom (MB) – Calgary, MB
- #28 Raya Surinx (OH) – Winnipeg, MB
- #31 Jasmine Rivest (OH) – Montreal, QC
- #34 Gabrielle Attieh (OH) – Abbotsford, BC
- #35 Isabella Noble (S) – Halifax NS
Staff:
- Shannon Winzer – Head Coach
- Vincenzo Mallia – Assistant Coach
- Matt Krueger – Assistant Coach
- Kevin Valcke – Physiotherapist
- Gabriele Tortorici – Statistician
- Robert Hooper – Strength and Conditioning
- Jennah Paron – Team Manager
Media contact:
Jackie Skender
jskender@volleyball.ca
613-794-7676