Belarus has 2,850 players in their national pool (0.02% of the total population). At the 2005 and 2006 World Championships, their coach was Glen Hanlon, who brought the best-ever result in the IIHF World Championship – 6th place in 2006. He was succeeded by Curt Fraser, who led the team in 2007 and 2008. Hanlon returned to coach the team for 2009 World Championships in Switzerland. Mikhail Grabovski was named captain on the eve of 2011 World Championships.