Graham Saxton Vigrass (born 17 June 1989) is a Canadian former professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

player. He was a member of the Canada national team, a participant at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

(

Rio 2016 ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

Tokyo 2020 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

), and a bronze medallist at the 2017 World League

Personal life

Vigrass was born in Calgary,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

to parents Richard and Sandy Vigrass. His uncle, Don Saxton, played on the Canadian men's national volleyball team at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, and his cousin, Ben Saxton, played beach volleyball at the

2016 Rio Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...

. Vigrass started playing volleyball at the age of 13, and played in Calgary for the Canuck Volleyball Club and

Western Canada High School Western Canada High School (WCHS) is a public senior high school in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It has classes for grades 10 through 12. Western is located in the 17th Avenue business district of the Lower Mount Royal community, and is the most cen ...

during his high school years.

Career

University

Vigrass played U Sports men's volleyball with the

University of Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

for five seasons from 2007 to 2012. His time there was highlighted by leading the team to win the 2010 CIS Men's Volleyball Championship where he was also named the CIS Championship MVP. During the following season, as defending champions, the Dinos finished with a bronze medal in the 2011 CIS championship and Vigrass was named the CIS Men's volleyball player of the year and the

Canada West The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...

representative at the BLG Awards for the top male university athlete in Canada.

Professional

Vigrass spent the 2012-13 season at the Team Canada National Excellence Program (NEP), formerly the Full Time Training Center (FTC), at the Centre Sportif in Gatineau, Canada, before signing in 2013 with

Arago de Sète Arago de Séte is a French professional volleyball club based in Sete, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and ...

in Sete,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He helped

Étoile Sportive du Sahel Étoile may refer to: Places ;France * Charles de Gaulle – Étoile, station of the Paris Métro * Étoile-Saint-Cyrice, commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in France * Étoile-sur-Rhône, commune in the Drôme department in France * L'Ét ...

win the

Tunisian Volleyball Cup The Tunisian Men's Volleyball Cup began with 1956–57 season. It is organized by Tunisian Volleyball Federation. Clubs of all divisions takes part in this competition. Titles Performance by club See also * Tunisian Women's Volleyball Cup ...

in 2015, before joining up with national team coach

Glenn Hoag Glenn Hoag is a Canadian professional volleyball coach and former player. The current head coach of Arkas İzmir. Player Hoag played for the Université de Sherbrooke in his university years, before turning pro and playing overseas in Italy an ...

Arkas Spor Arkas Spor Izmir is a professional volleyball team based in Izmir, Turkey. It plays in the Turkish Men's Volleyball League and in the CEV Champions League. The Körfez Sports Club began competing in the 2nd volleyball league in the 1999-00 Seaso ...

for the 2015-16 season. In 2016, Vigrass joined Berlin Volleys, teaming up with national teammate Steven Marshall. In 2018, he joined team ONICO Warszawa and joined national teammate

Sharone Vernon-Evans Sharone Vernon-Evans (born 28 August 1998) is a Canadian volleyball player. He is a member of the Canada men's national volleyball team and Japanese club Osaka Blazers Sakai. Personal life Vernon-Evans started playing volleyball at a young age ...

and former national team coach

Stephane Antiga Stephane may refer to: * Stéphane Stéphane is a male French given name an equivalent of Stephen/Steven. Notable people with this given name include: * Stéphane Adam (born 1969), French footballer *Stéphane Agbre Dasse (born 1989), Burkinabé f ...

. In 2019, he joined

Jastrzębski Węgiel Jastrzębski Węgiel, is a professional men's volleyball club based in Jastrzębie-Zdrój in southern Poland, founded in 1961. They compete in the Polish PlusLiga. Two–time Polish Champion and one time Polish Cup winner. Since the beginning o ...

. In 2020, he, and national teammate

Nicholas Hoag Nicholas "Nick" Hoag (born 19 August 1992) is a Canadian male volleyball player. He is a member of the Canada men's national volleyball team, a participant in the 2016 Summer Olympics, a gold and silver medallist at the NORCECA Men's Volleyball ...

, helped Fenerbahçe_SK become Turkish Men's Volleyball Super Cup champions. In 2021, Vigrass joined

Halkbank Halkbank is a Turkish bank, first incorporated in 1933 as a state-owned bank. After growing throughout much of the twentieth century, it began absorbing smaller-sized state banks around the turn of the millennium. Halkbank is now a publicly trad ...

National Team

Vigrass first joined the national team program in 2008 as a member of

Canada men's junior national volleyball team The Canada men's national junior volleyball team is the men's national under-21 volleyball team of Canada. The team is controlled by Volleyball Canada, which represents the country in international competitions - Junior NORCECA Championship and ...

. He helped the team win silver at the 2008

Men's Junior NORCECA Volleyball Championship The NORCECA Men's Junior Continental Championship U-21 is a volleyball competition for national teams, currently held biannually and organized by the NORCECA, the North America, Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) ...

, and qualify for the 2009 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship. Vigrass joined the senior national "B" team in 2010, before becoming a full national team member in 2012. He was a member of the squad that finished tied for 7th place at the 2014 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship, and helped the team win bronze at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

. He was a member of the squad that won bronze at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League. He also helped the national team finish tied for 5th at the

and finish eighth at the

2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. Vigrass retired from the national team in 2022.

Honours

University

* 2010

CIS Men's Volleyball Championship, with

Calgary Dinos The Calgary Dinos are the athletic teams that represent the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. They were known as the "Dinosaurs" but usually referred to as the "Dinos" until 1999, when the name was officially shortened. Some of its venue ...

* 2011

CIS Men's Volleyball Championship, with

Professional

* 2014/2015 Simple gold cup

, with

* 2015/2016 Bronze medal with cup

Turkish Men's Volleyball League The Turkish Men's Volleyball League, officially called the Efe League (Turkish: Efeler Ligi), is the highest professional men's volleyball league in Turkey. It is run by the Turkish Volleyball Federation. Founded in 1970, the league is considere ...

, with

* 2016/2017 Gold medal with cup

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

, with Berlin Volleys * 2016/2017 4th at the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

, with Berlin Volleys * 2017/2018 Gold medal with cup

, with Berlin Volleys * 2018/2019 Silver medal with cup

Polish PlusLiga, with Onico Warszawa * 2020/2021 Simple gold cup

Turkish Men's Volleyball Super Cup, with Fenerbahçe_SK

National Team

* 2008

Junior NORCECA Championship * 2011 4th at the 2011 Summer Universiade * 2014 Tied for 7th place Men's Volleyball World Championship Team Record * 2015 Gold medal northamerica

NORCECA Championship Team Record * 2015 Bronze medal with cup

Pan American Games Tied a Team Record * 2015 7th place Men's World Cup Tied a Team Record * 2016 Tied for 5th place

* 2017

FIVB World League The FIVB Volleyball World League was an annual international men's volleyball competition. Created in 1990, it was the longest and richest of all the international events organized by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB). The wom ...

Team Record * 2020 Qualified for consecutive back to back Summer Olympics Team Record * 2021 8th place

* 2022 Retired from the national team

Individual awards

* 2010 CIS Canadian University Men's Volleyball Championship – MVP * 2010/2011 CIS Canadian University Men's Volleyball – Player of the Year * 2010/2011 BLG Awards (top male university athlete in Canada) - Western Canada Representative * 2017

– Best Middle Blocker

References

External links