Justin Duff played volleyball for Canada, but he did not get there without being cut and spending time on the bench. He was cut from his JV volleyball team (he had never played before), he was cut from the Team Manitoba Canada Games Basketball team (when he was 6’6” with a 40 inch vertical) and he was not a starter in his first year of university volleyball with the University of Winnipeg. His volleyball development started when a coach at his school said to him, “Hey Justin, you could be good at this if you try. I am going to help you try.” When he was cut from the Canada Games basketball team, the staff at Volleyball Manitoba encouraged him to play volleyball telling him, “they would help him become the player he needed to be.” That player went on to represent Canada in volleyball at the 2016 Olympics in Rio as well as several other national team events.

Reflecting on his career, Justin is most proud of the shift he made from a talented, entitled kid to someone who was just willing to give his all and support the development squad. Recently retired, Justin is a now a Dad and MBA student. When asked for one piece of advice he would share he told us, “try to understand things that you have an issue with and don’t just dismiss them, you can learn something.”

We hope you enjoy our conversation with Justin Duff.