Best Canadian Men’s Beach Volleyball Teams
Beach volleyball is the kind of sport that’s constantly gaining popularity in Canada. It’s worth noting that a lot of Canada’s male beach volleyball players have gained international recognition. Some of current men’s beach volleyball players have a huge potential and they are likely to demonstrate excellent results in the nearest future.
Such Canada’s male beach volleyball players as Ben Saxton, Chaim Schalk, John Child, Mark Heese, Josh Binstock, Matt Zbyszewski, Martin Reader, Sam Schachter, Mark Heese, Mike Chaloupka, Jody Holden, Conrad Leinemann, Jessi Lelliott and many athletes made a great contribution to the development of beach volleyball sport in Canada.
Obviously, the sport of beach volleyball in Canada is on rise these days. It’s interesting to know that Canada is one of 4 counties in the world that qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with 2 men’s beach volleyball teams and 2 women’s beach volleyball teams. Without a doubt, Canadian athletes successfully represented the country at the 2016 Beach Volleyball Tournament. As a result, three of the country’s beach volleyball teams finished in the top 10.
In this blog, we would like to provide the list of the best Canadian men’s beach volleyball teams and bring you the detailed analysis of their most remarkable sport achievements.
John Child and Mark Heese
John Child and Mark Heese is one of the most legendary Canadian men’s beach volleyball teams. John and Mark started playing together in 1995.
The greatest achievement of this pair is winning the bronze medal at the Summer Olympic Games that took place in Atlanta in 1996. Child/Heese beat Bosma/Jimenez from Spain in the quarter-finals of 1996 Summer Olympics. In the semi-finals, Child/Heese lost the game to one of the best men’s beach volleyball teams, Kiraly/Steffes from the United States. Finally, Kiraly/Steffes won the gold at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Child/Heese defeated Maia/Brenha from Portugal and became the bronze medalist of the 1996 men’s beach volleyball tournament. Actually, it was the first time in the history of beach volleyball in Canada when Canadian athletes became the medalists of the beach volleyball Olympic tournament.
John Child and Mark Heese also participated in the Olympic men’s beach volleyball tournament that took place in Sydney in 2000 where the pair finished the 5-th.
The team also participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. After the competition, the John Child and Mark Heese ranked the 5-th in the world.
Child/Heese won the gold medal at the FIVB international Open tournament that took place in Berlin in 1996.
John Child and Mark Heese represented Canada at the Beach Volleyball World Championships that took place in Los Angeles in 1997. After the competition, the men’s beach volleyball team ranked the 9th in the world.
John Child and Mark Heese represented Canada at the Beach Volleyball World Championships that took place in Marseille in 1999. After the competition, the men’s beach volleyball team ranked the 9th in the world.
In addition, the pair won 3 bronze medals at the FIVB World Tour.
The pair also won a bronze medal at the FIVB Series Championships.
It’s also important to note that John Child and Mark Heese won 8 gold medals the Canadian National beach volleyball championships.
It goes without saying that John Child and Mark Heese are two great athletes who have created one of the best men’s teams in the history of men’s beach volleyball in Canada!
Mark Dunn and Ed Drakich
Mark Dunn and Ed Drakich are two beach volleyball players who also participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The team took the 17th place.
Josh Binstock and Matt Zbyszewski
Josh Binstock and Matt Zbyszewski is a great Canadian men’s beach volleyball team that has won a silver medal at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit that took place in Puerto Vallarta in 2009. The pair also won a bronze medal at the NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit that took place in Manzanillo in 2009. Above all, Josh Binstock and Matt Zbyszewski won a silver medal at the Center of Gravity in 2009.
Jody Holden and Conrad Leinemann
Jody Holden and Conrad Leinemann are well-known for winning the gold medal at the Pan American Games that took place in Winnipeg in 1999. Additionally, the pair participated in the Summer Olympic men’s beach volleyball tournament that took place in Sydney in 2000. After that competition, the team ranked the 9-th in the world.
Conrad Leinemann/Rich van Huizen
Conrad Leinemann and Rich van Huizen men’s volleyball pair is well-known for participating at the Beach Volleyball World Championships that took place in Berlin in 2005. The team ranked the 9th in the world after that competition.
Mark Heese and Mike Chaloupka
Mark Heese and Mike Chaloupka successfully represented Canada at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games where the team took the 9-th place.
Rich van Huizen/Christian Redmann
Rich van Huizen and Christian Redmann represented Canada at the Beach Volleyball World Championships that took place in Stavanger in 2009. Van Huizen – Redmann lost to Jennings – Fuerbringer team from the United States.
Josh Binstock and Martin Reader
Josh Binstock also played with Martin Reader. The pair participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics. The team finished the 17th. Martin Reader announced his retirement after men’s beach volleyball tournament.
Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter
Sam Schachter and Josh Binstock is another great men’s beach volleyball team from Canada. Among the greatest sport achievements of this men’s beach volleyball pair are: a gold medal at the Canadian national beach volleyball competitions as well as a gold medal at FIVB World Tour. The team also participated in the Pan American Games that took place in Toronto in 2015 and finished the competition at the 8th place. Josh Binstock and Sam Schachter participated in the 2016 Summer Olympics. Binstock/Schachter ranked the 19th in the world.
Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk
Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk is another Canadian men’s beach volleyball team that participated in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The team played in Pool D at the initial stages of the beach volleyball tournament. Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk did fantastic job when they played against a strong Brazilian men’s beach volleyball team, Evandro and Pedro Solberg. It’s worth noting that the match Evandro – Pedro Solberg vs. Saxton – Schalk was very interesting. The team Saxton – Schalk lost its first set 21 – 17. After that, Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk won two remained sets 18 – 21 and 14 – 16. So, the Canadian men’s beach volleyball team got a very important win that allowed them to move forward. After that, Saxton – Schalk lost to Brouwer – Meeuwsen from Netherlands in the round of 16. Finally, the team ranked the 9th in the world.
You also need to know that Ben Saxton and Chaim Schalk participated in the Beach Volleyball World Championships that took place in Stare Jablonki in 2013. The pair finished the 5th.
Matt Zbyszewski and Jessi Lelliott
Matt Zbyszewski and Jessi Lelliott also made the history of beach volleyball in Canada. These two men’s beach volleyball players took part in the 2008 SO Pro Beach Volleyball Tournament. The Canadian men’s beach volleyball team won the silver medal.
Thank you so much for reading this article. So, the big question is – what is the best Canadian men’s beach volleyball team in the history? Having analyzed the history of men’s beach volleyball in Canada carefully, we provided you with the list of the greatest Canadian men’s beach volleyball pairs of all time. Each of these teams has its own achievements and awards. This is why we have told you about the biggest sport achievements of every team. Now, you have all the necessary information to figure out what Canadian men’s beach volleyball team is the best. Train hard on a regular basis and do everything possible to represent Canada at international volleyball competitions in the best possible way. Hopefully, you’ll be able to repeat the success of the best Canadian men’s beach volleyball teams over time. Good luck!