February 17, 2025
The Magus family has experienced a series of serendipitous moments both on and off the volleyball court.
After committing years to the sport as an athlete, including time as a setter for Team Canada, Jay Magus took to a new role. Following his retirement, he continued to be involved in the sport as a coach before taking a hiatus to start a family.
That included the birth of his daughter Sophia, who believed she would pursue a career in swimming while growing up.
However, in 2017, Jay decided to step back into the field of coaching and formed a U12 volleyball team with Sophia and her friends from various other sports. It didn’t take long before Sophia fully committed to volleyball, officially making the transition at the age of 14. From there, the two developed a shared passion for the sport which became a foundational part of their relationship as Jay coached Sophia through all levels of her early career.
“It’s so neat, it has kept me young and gives me energy, seeing [Sophia] and my other daughter with their successes and how hard they work,” said Jay, who is currently an assistant coach with the University of Saskatchewan women’s volleyball team.
Since her time playing club level, Sophia has followed in her dad’s footsteps in more ways than one. In 2022, she represented Canada on the international stage as a setter at the U19 Girls Pan American Cup in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while wearing the number 13, both just as her dad had done years prior.
To make it even more full circle, Jay was named an assistant coach for the team and got a front row seat to watch Sophia compete.
The event was Sophia’s first time representing the red and white and for Jay, it was his first-time coaching Sophia outside of the provincial level and with that came dissonance regarding his roles.
“As a dad, I was really nervous for her, but as a coach I was like ‘Okay, you’ve got to do this, you have to hit your spot on the serve.’… I tried to stay in coach mode because it made me less nervous than being a parent,” admitted Jay. “What hit home was hearing the national anthem the first time and looking over and Sophia is just singing it. It was pretty cool and I was emotional at the time.”
Sophia also recognized the unique opportunity to represent her country with her dad at her side.
“I was really fortunate to be on that team and compete with those girls, wearing the flag on my chest, but also being able to compete with my dad on the coaching staff,” said Sophia.
Since almost all of Sophia’s time playing volleyball has been spent as an athlete to Jay, the two have been able to find the perfect split between their time as father-daughter and athlete-coach.
“We’ve always been pretty good at being able to maintain kind of our father-daughter relationship but also our coach-athlete relationship, so they are kind of separate,” said Sophia. “He is definitely the first person I go to talk to about anything volleyball related, he’s always checking in asking how practice was but also, about the rest of my life outside of volleyball as well.”
It is not without effort that Jay and Sophia have been able to use their shared passion for volleyball as a tool to nourish their familial relationship.
“Sophia and I have had hundreds of sessions. We get an hour of gym time, where I toss balls and she sets,” said Jay. “Good or bad results, I try to not talk volleyball all the time…I don’t want to put more pressure or more anxiety on her than I need to.”
In terms of learning to let go of the reins in sport, Jay and Sophia have developed some firsthand knowledge on the topic, especially now that Sophia is a red shirt with the University of Alberta Pandas volleyball team, an opponent of Jay and the Huskies. The two teams faced each other in the Canada West regular season in November 2024.
“We’ve never ever been on opposite sides of the court, so it was definitely kind of an interesting moment and different experience. But at the end of the game when we’re all done, we go and shake hands and [my dad] goes ‘We’re not shaking hands, we’ve got to give each other a hug,’” said Sophia.
Although the Pandas and the Huskies are rivals, Jay beams with pride regarding Sophia’s decision to move to Alberta to pursue new opportunities, which includes pursing a degree in engineering, just as he had done.
“She had to make the hard decision to leave the U of S Huskies last year to join U of A. I’m super proud of how she handled that transition and moving away,” said Jay. “As a parent and as a coach, I’m super proud because she is a great teammate and that transfers into life … I’m just smiling right now, thinking of her.”
The Canada West regular season wrapped up on Saturday, with the Pandas finishing in second place and the Huskies in eighth. The placements mean Saskatchewan will start their postseason by hosting Trinity Western University in a best-of-three play-in series Feb. 21-23, while Alberta gets the bye to quarterfinals. It also means that the only time Jay and Sophia’s paths may cross as opponents in the Canada West playoffs is in either the bronze or gold medal final.