Ottawa, Canada, February 11, 2019 - Volleyball Canada has named its new women’s indoor programme head coach. Tom Black, current head coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs programme and former assistant coach for the United States national team, will take over Canada’s women’s programme beginning May 2019.
"I am incredibly honoured and humbled by this opportunity to lead the Canadian women’s national team programme," said Black, who thanked both the University of Georgia Athletics department and Volleyball Canada for the opportunity to take on this new challenge while maintaining his position with the Bulldogs. Final details on the agreement are pending.
"There is incredible potential in Canadian women’s volleyball because there are incredible people involved, and I cannot wait to get started."
Black has been the head of the programme at Georgia since December of 2016, and previously was the head coach of the Loyola Marymount University women’s volleyball team.
He was also an assistant with the 2016 Olympic United States women’s bronze-medal winning team, working alongside head coach Karch Kiraly. Black also assisted with Team USA prior to its first World Championship gold medal at the FIVB World Championship in October 2014, and the team went on to win the 2015 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix and a bronze at the FIVB Volleyball World Cup.
Tom Black worked alongside coach Karch Kiraly during the USA's 2016 Olympic campaign
“Tom’s experience at the highest level of the sport will be an invaluable contribution to our women’s programme,” said Julien Boucher, Volleyball Canada’s Indoor High Performance Director.
"Our team has made gains, picking up its first NORCECA medal in many years last summer and continuing to get experience at the World Championships in the fall of 2018. We’re looking forward to Tom’s leadership and technical knowledge to help guide our athletes to greater success on the international stage as we look ahead to this year’s Olympic qualification tournament and beyond.”
Before being named as an assistant with the United States program, Black spent three consecutive summers as a consultant coach as the national team prepared for the 2012 London Games.
He held various other positions with collegiate and school programmes earlier in his coaching career with both men’s and women’s teams.
As a player, Black was a four-year varsity letterman for the University of California San Diego (UCSD) volleyball programme from 1993-96, setting numerous hitting records and earning All-MPSF honourable mention honours as a senior in 1996. He was Volleyball Magazine’s Small College Player of the Year in 1996, while also earning Small College All-America honours that same year.
Black received his bachelor’s degree in political science from UCSD in 1996.
Black and his wife, Crystal, have two daughters, Kylin and Emerson.