This last fall season marked the first year that the Cascades volleyball teams played in the Canada West league. While it was a rough season, it demonstrated that UFV is only just beginning their legacy — a legacy that Josh Gagnon, the Cascades men’s volleyball defensive left-side hitter, is excited to grow. Gagnon is well on his way to achieving his goal of one day playing on Team Canada, after having represented Canada in the Under 21 Beach Volleyball World Championship in 2021. Playing volleyball on the world stage is in Gagnon’s blood, as his father, Terrance Gagnon, was a member of Team Canada’s 1992 Olympic volleyball team.
So, what was having a friendly father-son game of volleyball like with your father being an Olympic athlete?
Oh, he never let me win. Not in anything. I had to earn the wins. I had to win the win. And eventually, when I did, it felt a lot greater. It helps that I am so competitive; well, my entire family is competitive. But he has the same personality [as me]: lighthearted, still very intense, but able to have a laugh and not just gripping intensity.
But I think that him never letting me win taught me how to lose gracefully, but also when I did win, I earned it, and it was much sweeter.
When the team got our win, we earned that win. It has been a tough year for us, with lots of ups and downs, and we were so close many times and saw so many improvements throughout the season. It was such a great feeling when we won.
What technique in volleyball have you worked on with your father the most?
He challenges me a lot on passing because he was an incredible passer. If he sees something from an outside perspective, he’ll let me know: “You’re dropping your arms a little bit.” Stuff that subconsciously, I won’t even notice. He’s said to me before, and it continues to be true, “if you can pass and play defense, you’ll always be on the court.”
We used to spend a lot of time [practicing] in the summers; we’d set up a net in the grass, my mom and my dad, him standing on a box, would just hit serves at me while they both just watched and fixed my passing. If I was doing something wrong, we’d stop and completely break down the passing and just work back up until I can do it without thinking.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your father?
The ability to make a mistake and shrug it off and get ready for the next serve. Growing up, he was the first person I talked to after every game, and I just picked it up and learned that from him.
When I struggle to shrug off some mistakes, he’ll still be there to help me not think about them, and remind me sometimes that “you have passed so many balls in your life, your muscles know how to do it; get your head out of the way and just do it.”
Is that ability to shake off mistakes something that the UFV team struggles with or needs to work on for the fall season?
Yeah, I think that we as a team could learn to do that better. We start our games off strong. We come out of the gates rolling, then one mistake happens and we let it weigh us down. We don’t brush it off as quickly as we could. Then the mistakes and points pile on us instead of just the one.
Honestly, I just think it’s an experience thing. We’re a young team, and will keep being able to keep the pressure on and just keep doing our job.
With your dad’s reputation and experience, do you feel any pressure or weight on your shoulders to perform and play exceptionally well?
You know, I really haven’t thought about that. My dad has never pressured me to follow in his footsteps. I put pressure on myself to live in those shoes, step into them. But at the same time, yeah, it’s nice to do these things, try to live up to something, and say this is our family, this is what we do. But in the end, I’ve still done all these things for myself and my legacy.
What’s the next goal you want to achieve for both yourself and the team?
It’s really ambitious to say, but you might as well get your goals down on paper. I want us to beat Trinity Western; they’re one of the best. I want UFV to be a team that others hate to play against because we’re so damn good. For myself, I think two Olympics from now is when I’ll be in my prime, and whether it’s beach or indoor, I plan to be there.
Interview has been edited for clarity and length
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.
