Volleyball Canada names Giovanni Guidetti as new coach of women's national team

Serbia's coach Giovanni Guidetti looks on during the group A women's volleyball match between France and Serbia at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. Guidetti has been named the new head coach of the Canadian women's volleyball team, Volleyball Canada announced Tuesday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Alessandra Tarantino

OTTAWA — Giovanni Guidetti has been named the new head coach of the Canadian women’s volleyball team, Volleyball Canada announced Tuesday.

The 52-year-old Italian has been the head coach of Turkish club Vakifbank Spor Kulubu since 2008.

Vakifbank has won seven Turkish League titles, five FIVB Club World Championship gold medals and five CEV (European) Champions League titles under Guidetti’s watch.

In 2012-13, Guidetti led Vakifbank to an unprecedented 52-0 season that included five championship trophies.

Internationally, Guidetti most recently led Serbia to a seventh-place finish at the Paris 2024 Olympics. He also coached Turkey (2017-22), Netherlands (2015-17), Germany (2006-15) and Bulgaria (2003).

Guidetti will take over for Shannon Winzer, who has coached the team since 2021. Winzer is moving into a new role as the team’s high-performance director.

Winzer led the team to its highest-ever world ranking of eighth and a program-high 10th-place finish at the Volleyball Nations League in both 2023 and 2024.

Canada has not qualified for the Olympic women’s volleyball tournament since 1996. Canada narrowly missed qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics when it finished one point out of second place in its pool at a qualification tournament.

“I always admired and respected the way Canada played volleyball and improved so much in the last years,” Guidetti said in a release. “The No. 8 world ranking is an amazing result and now a great starting point aiming at the (2028) Los Angeles Olympic Games.

“I believe Canada has top-level international players and the young generations are very promising, so I am really excited to start this new journey.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 21, 2025.