Bryan Fraser was a professional volleyball player until a job opportunity in British Columbia called him into retirement and marked the beginning of his coaching career.

In 2019, Fraser made the life changing decision to explore volleyball from a different perspective and took on the position of head coach of the women's volleyball team at the College of the Rockies.

Prior to coaching, Fraser had a rich history as an athlete. He played with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies' volleyball team for five years before taking on numerous professional contracts, as well as a two separate stints with Canada's national team. The opportunities he took on as an athlete brought him around the world, from Germany to the Netherlands and led him to gain great depths of knowledge from the coaches that led him.

Now, he has taken on and reworked those practices from his time as an athlete and applied them to his coaching philosophy.

"It started off with me trying to replicate the things that I liked from my past coaches and at the same time also avoiding certain things," said Fraser. "Navigating that aspect of the job was probably the biggest challenge. Volleyball is my favorite thing in the world and I have the best job ever. It is something that has kept me motived to learning this new side of sport and learning how to get the best out of athletes."

The initial transition from athlete to coach was difficult for Fraser and left him feeling more like an athlete than a coach on occasion. Although, through a trial-and-error process, he stepped into his own coaching abilities.

"It takes sticking with who you are. I probably had 10 coaches throughout my career, which is a small sample size to choose from [in terms of] developing my own coaching habits."

As part of developing as a coach, Fraser actively searches for ways to better the athletes' experience on and off the court. In midst of working towards his Performance Coach Certification, Fraser was announced as a recipient of the Coaching Association of Canada's, Coach Education Grant. The 2024 Coaching Association of Canada Coach Education Grant is a resource that Team Canada athletes can apply for to receive grant funding.

"I applied for the grant because the [Performance Coach Workshop] course is around $600, and we had to travel to Calgary for a weekend. It is the second to last piece I need to get my Performance Coach Certification and this [grant] is a nice way to help get things covered."

The grant was developed to support Team Canada athletes as they take the next steps in advancing their coaching careers through the Coaching Education Program.

Among Fraser as a recipient, is Saskatchewan water polo athlete, Adrien van Dyke and 23 other athletes interested in developing their coaching abilities.