SYKORA REFUSING TO GIVE UP ON VOLLEYBALL
SYKORA REFUSING TO GIVE UP ON VOLLEYBALL
SYKORA REFUSING TO GIVE UP ON VOLLEYBALL
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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE / # 03 / 2013<br />
COVER S<strong>TO</strong>RY<br />
<strong>SYKORA</strong><br />
<strong>REFUSING</strong> <strong>TO</strong><br />
<strong>GIVE</strong> <strong>UP</strong> <strong>ON</strong><br />
<strong>VOLLEYBALL</strong><br />
FEATURE<br />
<strong>TO</strong>DD ROGERS<br />
BACK FOR <strong>ON</strong>E<br />
LAST HURRAH<br />
PROFILE<br />
COOK LOOKS<br />
<strong>TO</strong> THE FUTURE<br />
AS SHE WAVES<br />
GOODBYE <strong>TO</strong><br />
THE COURT
Men's Grand Champions Cup 19 - 24.11<br />
Women's Grand Champions Cup 12 - 17.11<br />
Men's Club World Championship 15 - 20.10<br />
Women's Club World Championship 8 - 13.10<br />
Men's U23 World Championship Open 3 - 14.10<br />
Women's U23 World Championship Open 2 - 13.10<br />
World Grand Prix Finals 28.08 - 1.09<br />
Men's U21 World Championship 22.08 - 1.09<br />
World Grand Prix 2013 Preliminary Round 2 - 18.08<br />
9<br />
10 11<br />
8<br />
World League Finals 17 - 21.07<br />
Girls' U18 World Championship 26.07 - 4.08<br />
7<br />
12<br />
Boys' U19 World Championship 27.06 - 7.07<br />
1<br />
2 3 4 5 6<br />
<strong>VOLLEYBALL</strong><br />
2013 CALENDAR<br />
Women's U20 World Championship 21 - 30.06<br />
World League Intercontinental Round 31.05 - 14.07<br />
World League Intercontinental Round May 31 - July 14 Various Various<br />
Women’s U20 World Championship June 21-30 Czech Republic Brno<br />
Boys’ U19 World Championship June 27 - July 7 Mexico Tijuana & Mexicali<br />
World League Finals July 17-21 Argentina Mar del Plata<br />
Girls’ U18 World Championship July 26 - August 4 Thailand Nakhon Ratchasima<br />
World Grand Prix 2013 Preliminary Round August 2-18 Various Various<br />
Men’s U21 World Championship August 22 - September 1 Turkey Ankara & Izmir<br />
World Grand Prix Finals August 28 - September 1 Japan Sapporo<br />
Women’s U23 World Championship Open October 2-13 Mexico TBD<br />
Men’s U23 World Championship Open October 3-14 Brazil TBD<br />
Women’s Club World Championship October 8-13 Switzerland Zurich<br />
Men’s Club World Championship October 15-20 Brazil TBD<br />
Women’s Grand Champions Cup November 12-17 Japan Nagoya & Tokyo<br />
Men’s Grand Champions Cup November 19-24 Japan Kyoto & Tokyo
Cover photo<br />
Two years after a career threatening bus<br />
accident, Stacy Sykora says she is hoping<br />
to give volleyball one more shot.<br />
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As we start to move further into 2013, the volleyball<br />
and beach volleyball seasons are starting to take shape<br />
and the changes we have introduced begin to take<br />
effect.<br />
We have already seen regional qualifying tournaments<br />
for the FIVB age-group volleyball championships, while<br />
in beach volleyball and volleyball a number of domestic<br />
tours are drawing to a close. Many teams have already<br />
shown that they will be strong contenders on the FIVB<br />
Beach Volleyball World Tour which will start with the<br />
Shanghai Grand Slam on April 30. The undoubted<br />
stars of this and any other year will, of course, be the<br />
players; be they on a volleyball or beach volleyball<br />
court. Already a number of future heroes have started<br />
to show what they can do and that they are ready to<br />
step up and take over from players who have retired or<br />
taken a break from the sport.<br />
One of the joys of watching volleyball and beach<br />
volleyball is seeing new players come through and<br />
make their mark on the sport and I am sure that<br />
2013 will be no exception. Over the last six months<br />
many players have retired from volleyball and beach<br />
volleyball and will now be beginning new adventures<br />
in their lives and careers.<br />
Understandably not every player will stay in the sport<br />
as many have career plans that don’t involve volleyball<br />
and beach volleyball. Of those that do, some may<br />
move into coaching or administration while others<br />
may decide to work with the media. Whatever they<br />
decide, it is vital that these players who have stepped<br />
away from volleyball are allowed to continue their<br />
contribution to it in some form. It is important that we<br />
keep as many players involved in helping develop and<br />
promote volleyball and beach volleyball. This is one of<br />
the reasons we are putting a lot of emphasis on our<br />
blog project, to allow former players the chance to<br />
give their opinions on the current state of play. Former<br />
players can teach the next generation of players,<br />
inspire young children to start playing while advising<br />
and lending their experience to those in charge of<br />
running volleyball and beach volleyball.<br />
C<strong>ON</strong>TENT / VOLLEYWORLD / # 03 / 2013<br />
2 BIG PICTURE<br />
Canadians show<br />
it’s never too cold<br />
for volleyball<br />
18<br />
FEATURE<br />
German duo<br />
learning from the<br />
best in Russian<br />
Superleague<br />
4 COVER S<strong>TO</strong>RY<br />
Sykora still refusing<br />
to give up<br />
on volleyball return<br />
20<br />
PROFILE<br />
Cook happy to be<br />
off the court, but still<br />
aiming to influence<br />
beach volleyball<br />
EDI<strong>TO</strong>RIAL<br />
By doing so we can ensure that our sport continues<br />
its growth and that new people, young and old, are<br />
introduced to the joys of playing, refereeing, organising<br />
and watching volleyball and beach volleyball.<br />
FIVB President: Dr. Ary S. Graça F°<br />
8 FEATURE<br />
Todd Rogers – back<br />
for one last hurrah<br />
22<br />
C<strong>ON</strong>FEDERATI<strong>ON</strong>S<br />
22 AVC<br />
23 CAVB<br />
23 CEV<br />
14<br />
IN FOCUS<br />
Beach Volleyball<br />
age-group<br />
competitions<br />
take shape<br />
24 CSV<br />
24 NORCECA<br />
1
2<br />
Canadians show<br />
it’s never too cold<br />
for volleyball<br />
BIG PICTURE<br />
Volleyball Canada and the Griffons du Cégep de l’Outaouais volleyball<br />
team were part of the Winterlude festivities in Jacques Cartier Park in<br />
Gatineau earlier this year. Volleyball Canada and the Griffons played a<br />
friendly snow volleyball match after which the athletes demonstrated<br />
serving and passing techniques to the youngsters on the court.
4<br />
COVER S<strong>TO</strong>RY<br />
STACY <strong>SYKORA</strong>
Sykora still<br />
refusing to give<br />
up on volleyball return<br />
It has been two years since US libero, Stacy Sykora was involved in a bus accident that left her in hospital for three months. But with<br />
the worst firmly behind her, she tells VolleyWorld how she’s hoping to give the game one more shot.<br />
April 12, 2011 is a date Stacy Sykora will never forget. Even though<br />
she has no recollection of what happened to her it was on this day that<br />
she was involved in a bus accident, which left her future health and<br />
impressive volleyball career in the balance.<br />
Her Brazilian team Volei Futuro were on their way to a play-off match<br />
on an evening of torrential rain when the coach they were travelling<br />
in skidded and flipped over. Sykora was flung to the floor of the bus.<br />
When she was finally pulled clear she was rushed to the hospital and<br />
placed in a medically induced coma as doctors began to treat bleeding<br />
and swelling on the left-side of her brain. Sykora’s injury was by far<br />
the worst, with other passengers suffering broken bones, bumps and<br />
bruising.<br />
The Beijing silver medallist spent a month in hospital in Brazil and was<br />
later transferred to the US where she spent another two months<br />
receiving treatment and beginning rehabilitation.<br />
The accident, and the days and week leading up to it, are gone from<br />
Sykora’s memory. “I remember absolutely nothing. I don’t remember<br />
about a week before the accident and about a month after the<br />
accident,” Sykora told VolleyWorld. “I was in a hospital in Brazil and<br />
my mother and sister came to visit me and I don’t remember one<br />
second of them being there or one second of being in the hospital.<br />
“I remember meeting my friend and my doctor at the airport and I<br />
thought I was going home, but I went directly to the hospital.”<br />
Despite the trauma she returned to training towards the end of her<br />
two months in hospital with the aim of reaching her fourth Olympic<br />
Games at London 2012, even helping Team USA win gold at the<br />
Pan-American Cup. While she pushed herself hard in pursuit of her<br />
5
6<br />
“Now that my brain is with me I can see that I wasn’t ready, but when<br />
you talked to me during that time, I thought I was ready,” the Texan-<br />
born athlete added. “I thought ‘why am I not playing, why am I not<br />
going to the Olympics? I can do this. I’m not playing very well, I can’t<br />
see the ball very well, but I can do this’.<br />
“My brain was not 100 per cent and it was giving me unrealistic<br />
thoughts. I now see that after two years, I am not 100 per cent. So a<br />
year and four months ago I definitely wasn’t ready for the Olympics.”<br />
Some of the best performances from the 35-year-old have been on<br />
a volleyball court at the Olympics. On her Olympic debut in 2000 she<br />
made a career-best total of 26 digs in the quarterfinal victory over<br />
Korea and then four years later in Athens she won the award for<br />
best digger.<br />
She admits that she was “very, very, very upset” to miss out on<br />
London 2012 and was only able to bring herself to watch the gold<br />
medal match in which Hugh McCutcheon’s side lost 3-1 to Brazil<br />
- the same result with which Brazil had beaten USA at the Beijing<br />
Games in 2008.<br />
COUNTRY USA<br />
YEARS PLAYING<br />
INTERNATI<strong>ON</strong>ALLY<br />
POSITI<strong>ON</strong> Libero<br />
STACY DENISE <strong>SYKORA</strong><br />
14 – made debut in 1999<br />
HEIGHT 177cm (5’10)<br />
HOME<strong>TO</strong>WN Burleson, Texas<br />
DATE OF BIRTH 24/06/1977<br />
H<strong>ON</strong>OURS 2010 FIVB World Championship Best Libero<br />
2010 FIVB World Grand Prix gold<br />
2008 Olympic Games silver<br />
2007 World Cup bronze<br />
2004 Olympic Games Best Receiver<br />
2003 FIVB World Grand Prix bronze<br />
2003 FIVB World Cup bronze<br />
2002 FIVB World Championship silver<br />
2001 FIVB World Grand Prix Best Digger<br />
2001 FIVB World Champions Cup Best Digger<br />
Stacy Sykora put in some impressive displays to help the USA to silver at<br />
the Beijing 2008 Olympics.<br />
COVER S<strong>TO</strong>RY<br />
STACY <strong>SYKORA</strong><br />
“Personally I couldn’t watch the Olympics at all,” Sykora admitted. “I<br />
could not watch volleyball. I cried my eyes out. It was very, very, hard.<br />
My sister called me and said we were in the gold-medal match, so<br />
I watched the gold-medal match. It was the only match I watched.<br />
“Any medal at the Olympic Games is a huge achievement. I’m happy<br />
we placed and that we played so well. Did we want a gold medal?<br />
Yes, everyone wants to win a gold medal, but you have 12 teams at<br />
the Olympics and all 12 teams want a gold medal, so it wasn’t like<br />
we wanted something that no-one else wanted. So I’m happy that<br />
we did the best we could.” With London 2012 now retreating in the<br />
rear-view mirror, Sykora is focusing on completing her recovery and<br />
has plans to put volleyball on hold. She has been part of Team USA<br />
since 1999 and as well as her spell in Brazil she has played in Italy,<br />
where she featured for Urbino and Ravenna volleyball clubs.
There was some talk of retirement at the end of 2012, but she has<br />
put that on hold as she tries to fully complete her rehabilitation.<br />
Her outlook continues to be relentlessly positive though, something<br />
that has helped her recovery so far and is likely to be a key factor<br />
in whether she will eventually make it back onto the court and into<br />
Team USA colours.<br />
“You never know what tomorrow will bring, I’m still healing from my<br />
accident and I’m going to take this summer off,” said Sykora, who<br />
also represented Texas A&M University in athletics and basketball.<br />
“I’m not going to use the word retired yet. I’m like 90 per cent<br />
retired, but I’m not going to use the word retired until my body tells<br />
me I am. I’m going to give it one more try and after this summer I’m<br />
going to do some more training and see if I still have the ability to<br />
play volleyball. And if I do, I will continue to play.<br />
“They say that I just need time. The issue I have is with my vision<br />
which is bad, as is my tracking with my left eye and right, so when<br />
something moves, they don’t move together. The doctors say I just<br />
need time, so I’m just going to take some time and see how I go for<br />
the future.”<br />
“Now that my brain is with me<br />
I can see that I wasn’t ready, but<br />
when you talked to me during<br />
that time, I thought I was ready”<br />
7
8<br />
Todd Rogers<br />
Back for one<br />
last hurrah<br />
For the first time since 2007 Todd Rogers begins a season<br />
without either an Olympic or world title to his name, but<br />
that will not stop him being his usual determined self on<br />
the court during the FIVB World Tour this year.<br />
FEATURE<br />
<strong>TO</strong>DD ROGERS – BACK FOR <strong>ON</strong>E LAST HURRAH
10<br />
Todd Rogers’ finest hour came at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games when<br />
he and Phil Dalhausser won gold.<br />
FEATURE<br />
<strong>TO</strong>DD ROGERS – BACK FOR <strong>ON</strong>E LAST HURRAH<br />
After he and Phil Dalhausser lost to Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in<br />
the last-16 at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Dalhausser teamed-<br />
up with Sean Rosenthal at the end of the season. It initially appeared<br />
to be the end of Rogers’ time on the World Tour, but he has now<br />
joined up with Ryan Doherty to continue a career that started at the<br />
1997 FIVB World Championships in Los Angeles, where he partnered<br />
Daxton Holdren.<br />
“Ryan is still very new to the game and has only been playing for<br />
about five or six years,” Rogers said. “He was a very good baseball<br />
player before starting to play volleyball so already knew what it<br />
took to be a professional athlete. He is still learning a lot about the<br />
game but is very tall and is naturally a good blocker. I think he has<br />
tremendous potential and I hope I can help him get to Rio for 2016.”<br />
“Right now I think Ryan is a great option for me. I realised that I<br />
really enjoyed coaching Phil as well as playing with him when we<br />
first started off. For the last several years there really wasn’t much
coaching to be done. With Ryan, I get to start coaching again and so<br />
far I have really been enjoying it. It invigorates or fires me up to play.”<br />
Doherty has yet to play on the World Tour, but has been competing<br />
in the United States. At 7-feet tall (2.13m) his height and ability at<br />
the net will be vitally important in complementing Rogers’ agility and<br />
defensive work at the back of the court.<br />
While he is now based in California, it has been a circuitous route to<br />
beach volleyball for the New Jersey-born 29-year-old. He originally<br />
pursued a career as a baseball pitcher, but after he was released by<br />
the Arizona Diamondbacks, he was given the chance to play on the<br />
beach, excelled and so moved to California to see how far he could<br />
go.<br />
The aim now for the pair is to establish themselves as a team on the<br />
World Tour and go as far as they can at the FIVB Beach Volleyball<br />
World Championships that take place in Stare Jablonki this year from<br />
July 1 to 7.<br />
This year Rogers and Dalhausser will be apart for the first time since the<br />
start of 2006.<br />
In their final year together Rogers and Dalhausser won World Tour gold in<br />
Brasilia and Shanghai.<br />
11
12<br />
“I don’t anticipate playing another<br />
four years, but I will definitely<br />
play this year and maybe another<br />
year after that if things work out.”<br />
“I think a realistic aim for us is to get ourselves solidly in the main draw<br />
and become one of the top 10 teams in the world. If things really<br />
work out we could potentially win a tournament,” Rogers added.<br />
“We do plan on playing in the World Championships in Stare<br />
Jablonki. I have always enjoyed it there and look forward to going<br />
back again. Things have been going very well. Ryan and I are on our<br />
third week of training but are taking it slow and easy so as to be<br />
ready for the big tournaments come June, July and August.”<br />
The Stare Jablonki Grand Slam was the venue for Rogers and<br />
Dalhausser’s final tournament together, the week immediately<br />
after the London Olympics. It continued their impressive run at the<br />
tournament with a third-place finish, to add to the two gold medals<br />
that they had won in 2010 and 2011.<br />
Rogers and Dalhausser’s partnership had been one of the most<br />
successful in recent years. As well as winning gold at the Beijing 2008<br />
FEATURE<br />
<strong>TO</strong>DD ROGERS – BACK FOR <strong>ON</strong>E LAST HURRAH<br />
Olympic Games, they won the 2007 FIVB World Championships and<br />
the 2010 FIVB World Tour. In total they won 21 gold medals on the<br />
World Tour, seven silvers and nine bronze.<br />
At the end of the year though and with Rogers unlikely to continue<br />
on to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games, Dalhausser opted to<br />
team up with Rosenthal. Rosenthal and Jacob Gibb were last year’s<br />
FIVB World Tour winners and when Dalhausser chose him to be the<br />
man to help him to a second Olympic gold, Rogers had no problem<br />
in bringing the partnership to an end.<br />
“Phil and I had a great run from 2006 to 2012 but all good things<br />
eventually come to an end,” Rogers said. “He wants to pursue<br />
playing in Rio and that is not a goal of mine so he needed to find a<br />
new partner. 2011 and 2012 were not up to Phil and Todd standards<br />
and so it was time to change. We were still one of the best teams in<br />
the world but it just wasn’t there anymore.”<br />
For now Rogers is working his hardest to ensure that he goes out<br />
on his terms as a player. He is almost certain that he won’t carry on<br />
to Rio, but even though he gave it some consideration at the end of<br />
2012, it will be a little while longer yet before he finally calls it a day.<br />
“Retirement was an option that I looked at, (but it) didn’t make sense<br />
for me yet though,” he said. “I still have sponsors and still would like<br />
to play for another year and help Ryan fulfil his potential as a beach<br />
volleyball player. I don’t anticipate playing another four years, but<br />
I will definitely play this year and maybe another year after that if<br />
things work out.”<br />
Rogers has already begun a new chapter of his career, alongside Ryan<br />
Doherty.
14<br />
IN FOCUS<br />
BVB JUNIOR WCHS – BVB YOUTH WCHS<br />
REVIEW AND PREVIEW<br />
Beach volleyball age-group<br />
competitions take shape<br />
as World Championships cities<br />
are confirmed
With the dates and venues for the FIVB Beach Volleyball Age-Group World Championships in place, VolleyWorld takes a look<br />
ahead at the up-coming competitions and looks back at those who took the glory in 2012.<br />
The first age-group tournament of the year is the newest on the<br />
FIVB Beach Volleyball calendar – the FIVB U23 World Championships.<br />
The event was added to provide another step between age-group<br />
and senior beach volleyball and the first edition is set to take place<br />
in Myslowice, Poland from June 6 to 9. The venue, not far from<br />
Poland’s ancient capital of Krakow, has a proven pedigree for hosting<br />
volleyball tournaments having organised a men’s Open for a number<br />
of years as well as the 2006 U21 World Championships.<br />
The tournament will attract some well-known faces from the World<br />
Tour including the 2012 men’s junior world champions, Piotr Kantor<br />
and Bartosz Losiak from Poland and Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and<br />
Anouk Verge-Depre who were the women’s champions in the same<br />
age category last year. Also eligible for the women’s tournament is<br />
Italy’s Marta Menegatti who is only 22 as well as Madelein Meppelink<br />
and Sophie van Gestel from The Netherlands and Argentina’s Maria<br />
Zonta, all of whom competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games.<br />
15
16<br />
Daniele Lupo caused one of the surprises of London 2012 when he<br />
and Paolo Nicolai knocked out defending champions Todd Rogers<br />
and Phil Dalhausser. At 21 years of age, Lupo is still eligible to take<br />
part in the U23 World Championship. Russia’s Konstantin Semenov is<br />
another player who could be putting his experience from the London<br />
Olympics to good use in the tournament.<br />
Umag on Croatia’s north-east coast will host the 13th edition of<br />
the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships from June 20<br />
to 23, two years on from hosting a highly successful U19 World<br />
Championships. Meanwhile the FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World<br />
Championships, which is now into its 12th edition, will be held from<br />
July 11 to 14.<br />
“We are looking forward to another exciting year of age-group<br />
beach volleyball, especially with the addition of the under 23 World<br />
Championships, which will assist in the development of beach<br />
volleyball and complement the growth achieved via the Continental<br />
Cup,” said Mr Vicente Araujo, FIVB Beach Volleyball Commission<br />
President. “Every year, we see the level of competition at these World<br />
IN FOCUS<br />
BVB JUNIOR WCHS – BVB YOUTH WCHS<br />
REVIEW AND PREVIEW<br />
Championships get better and better and with such outstanding<br />
venues as Umag and Myslowice we can expect more of the same in<br />
2013.”<br />
Poland will be out to continue their winning streak in the men’s U19<br />
and U21 Championships. In the U19 tournament, Michal Bryl and<br />
Kacper Kujawiak took home the title with the final being an all-Polish<br />
affair. Bryl and Kujawiak took on compatriots Lukasz and Sebastian<br />
Kaczmarek - the first time in the championship’s 11-year history that<br />
two teams from the same country have met in the final.<br />
Both pairs train together regularly and they pushed each other hard<br />
throughout the thrilling final contest. Bryl and Kujawiak had to fight<br />
back from losing the first set, but used the momentum of winning<br />
the second to claim gold in the tie-break.<br />
Meanwhile, their compatriots Kantor and Losiak were crowned<br />
U21 champions in Halifax, Canada when they beat Switzerland’s<br />
Mirco Gerson and Gabriel Kissling in the final. It was an impressive<br />
way to round-off their U21 career and they will now aim to be as
competitive on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and the U23<br />
World Championships.<br />
Lithuanian duo Monika Povilaityte and Ieva Dumbauskaite held off<br />
a comeback effort by Poland’s defending champions Karolina Baran<br />
and Katarzyna Kociolek to win the gold medal in the women’s U19<br />
championships. The 18th-seeded Lithuanian pair recorded a two-set<br />
victory in a thrilling 39-minute match.<br />
Switzerland’s Nina Betschart and Anouk Verge-Depre were<br />
crowned world champions in the 2012 FIVB Women’s Junior World<br />
Championship. With the win, Betschart joined Brazil’s Carolina<br />
Salgado (2004 and 2005) as the only women in the event’s history to<br />
win gold in back-to-back years with different partners.<br />
She did it in some style with a straight-sets victory over Brazil’s<br />
Drussyla Costa and Rebecca Silva.<br />
All three tournaments will follow exactly the same competition<br />
format. They begin with a main draw of 32 teams that is broken<br />
down to eight pools of four teams, from which the top two advance<br />
to a single elimination final phase. Each of the FIVB Confederations<br />
will send six teams, with only one team per gender allowed from<br />
each country. The only exception is the host nation, who can send<br />
two per gender.<br />
The FIVB Beach Volleyball U19 World Championships were first held<br />
in 2002 while the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships<br />
started in 2001.<br />
There was success for Poland’s men in the U21 championships too, while<br />
Switzerland’s women won gold.<br />
Poland’s boys won the U19 gold medal, but Lithuania’s girls denied them<br />
double success when they beat Poland’s girls in the final.<br />
17
18<br />
–<br />
German duo learning from the best<br />
in Russian Superleague<br />
Germany and Russia are two of the most powerful nations in<br />
European sport and now two members of Germany’s Olympic<br />
team are making their mark in the Russian Super League.<br />
National team captain Bjorn Andrae and Gyorgy Grozer moved to<br />
Russia following Germany’s run to the quarterfinals at the London<br />
2012 Olympic Games, where they lost to Bulgaria. Andrae joined<br />
Siberian side Kemerovo, a city nearly 4,000km to the east of Moscow,<br />
while Grozer headed to Belgorod, a city 570km south of Moscow,<br />
close to the Ukranian border.<br />
“Kemerovo in itself is a very pleasant city with around 300,000<br />
inhabitants, though the temperature falls to -55°C, something we’re<br />
not used to in Berlin,” Andrae said. “What is more difficult to endure<br />
is all the travelling. Since you’re away for at least 24 hours you start<br />
to feel it in your bones, but I have my personal physio here and we<br />
train well.”<br />
“In the beginning it was very difficult,” Grozer admitted. “Everything<br />
is different and you have to get used to it, but if you do that, it is<br />
quite normal.”<br />
They have played each other twice this season during pool play,<br />
with Grozer’s Belgorod winning both closely-fought contests 3-2.<br />
Grozer top scored with 24 points and Andrae registered 17 in the<br />
first encounter before both tallied 16 in the reverse match.<br />
While Belgorod were hoping for an automatic quarterfinal spot by<br />
finishing in the top two of the blue group, Kemerovo were confirmed<br />
in sixth place of the same pool, sealing a spot in the playoffs for<br />
the last eight and 31-year-old Andrae is certainly doing his best to<br />
help his new side advance further with an average of 13.2 points per<br />
match this season.<br />
FEATURE<br />
GERMAN DUO LEARNING FROM THE BEST<br />
IN RUSSIAN S<strong>UP</strong>ERLEAGUE<br />
“The season has been fairly normal for us,” he said. “Before the New<br />
Year we had some bad results, but then we won four matches in a<br />
row. Our main aim is to reach the play-offs and then get through to<br />
the quarterfinals, otherwise we will be in the play-down and that is<br />
no fun.”<br />
Grozer, by contrast, has already tasted success with his new team<br />
when they won the Russian Cup at the end of 2012 defeating Zenit<br />
Kazan 3-1. Even so he still feels that he is yet to find his best form<br />
with Belgorod.<br />
“I had a long summer with the<br />
national team and so far it has<br />
been a little difficult to show my<br />
best form with my team”<br />
“I had a long summer with the national team and so far it has been<br />
a little difficult to show my best form with my team,” he said, “but<br />
we are starting to hit our stride and won the Russian Cup, something<br />
I am very proud of. At the moment we are third in our group, which<br />
could be better, but isn’t too bad. The play-offs will be a challenge<br />
and our goal is to try and win the Russian Championship. Nothing is<br />
impossible.”<br />
Read more online
German captain Andrae has been averaging 13.2 points per match this<br />
season.<br />
Grozer has continued his fine form from London 2012 in the Russian Superleague.<br />
Grozer has his sights set on a Russian Championship medal with his club Belgorod.<br />
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20<br />
PROFILE<br />
NATALIE COOK
–<br />
Cook happy to be off the court, but still<br />
aiming to influence beach volleyball<br />
For the first time since 1993, Natalie Cook will not be gearing<br />
up for the start of the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour. The<br />
five-time Olympian tells VolleyWorld about her memories<br />
of life on tour, how much she will miss it and what she has<br />
planned for the future.<br />
Cook called it a day following the London 2012 Olympic Games.<br />
She and her partner Tamsin Hinchley were unable to make it to the<br />
knockout rounds, but in no way did that diminish her achievement<br />
of becoming the first beach volleyball player to play in five Olympic<br />
Games.<br />
In fact she has played in every Olympics in which beach volleyball<br />
featured; from its debut at Atlanta in 1996 to glory on the golden<br />
sands of Bondi Beach at Sydney 2000 when she and Kerri Pottharst<br />
became Olympic champions on home turf. Then came a fourth place<br />
at Athens 2004, fifth at Beijing 2008 and one last hurrah in front of<br />
15,000 fans at Horse Guards Parade in London.<br />
Cook made her World Tour debut at Santos, Brazil during the 1993-94<br />
season.<br />
Cook said farewell to professional beach volleyball at the London 2012<br />
Olympics – the fifth Games of her career.<br />
While there is part of her that will miss the daily grind of training<br />
and travel, the 2000 Olympic champion is happy to just be focusing<br />
her considerable energy on developing the sport in her homeland,<br />
Australia.<br />
“My heart will always beat to the beach volleyball drum, so when it<br />
is FIVB season time then I will feel it,” Cook told VolleyWorld. “I love<br />
the thrill of the competition, the whistle blowing, the score flipping<br />
over, and the cat and mouse game with my opponents. Our game<br />
is a physical, mental and emotional challenge, not only with your<br />
opponent but with yourself and your partner.”<br />
Read more online<br />
COUNTRY Australia<br />
YEARS PLAYING<br />
INTERNATI<strong>ON</strong>ALLY<br />
NATALIE COOK<br />
19 (now retired)<br />
Debut at 1993 Santos Open, Brazil<br />
HEIGHT 181cm (5’9”)<br />
HOME<strong>TO</strong>WN Brisbane, Australia<br />
DATE OF BIRTH 19/01/1975<br />
H<strong>ON</strong>OURS 2012 Confederations Cup gold<br />
2012 First Australian women<br />
to compete in five Olympic Games<br />
2003 FIVB Beach Volleyball World<br />
Championships bronze<br />
2000 Olympic Games gold<br />
1996 Olympic Games bronze<br />
1996 FIVB Beach Volleyball World<br />
Championships silver<br />
2003 FIVB World Grand Prix bronze<br />
2003 FIVB World Cup bronze<br />
2004 Olympic Games Best Digger<br />
2002 FIVB World Championship silver<br />
2001 FIVB World Grand Prix Best Digger<br />
2001 FIVB World Champions Cup<br />
Best Digger<br />
21
22<br />
C<strong>ON</strong>FEDERATI<strong>ON</strong>S<br />
AVC<br />
Sato appointed Japan<br />
coach in bid to bring back<br />
the glory days<br />
Gary Sato has been given the task of taking the Japan men’s team<br />
back to the top of world volleyball after he was appointed as their<br />
new head coach. The 58-year-old was previously the assistant coach<br />
of the USA men’s team from 1984 to 1988, a brief period in 1992<br />
and then from 2009 until 2012. In being appointed he becomes the<br />
first non-Japan born coach of either the men’s or women’s national<br />
teams, but he does have ties with the country as he is a fourth-<br />
generation US citizen of Japanese descent. “It’s a great honour,” Sato<br />
said. “I have tremendous respect for Japanese culture and Japanese<br />
volleyball.”<br />
Read more online<br />
Gary Sato has been given the task of improving the fortunes of Japan’s men’s team.<br />
C<strong>ON</strong>FEDERATI<strong>ON</strong>S<br />
AVC
CAVB<br />
Positional change provides<br />
Egypt’s Ahmed Said with path<br />
to U21 World Championship<br />
Egypt may have fallen narrowly short in their quest to win the Men’s<br />
Junior African Nations Championship when they lost to Tunisia in the<br />
final, but there were two silver linings to go with their silver medals.<br />
Firstly, Egypt’s second place finish ensured that they qualified for this<br />
year’s FIVB Men’s U21 World Championship in Turkey. And then there<br />
was the emergence of promising opposite Ahmed Said, who served<br />
notice of his talent and likelihood of becoming a fixture in Egypt’s<br />
national teams for years to come.<br />
Read more online<br />
Big things are expected of Ahmed Said after he has impressed at age-group level.<br />
CEV<br />
Russian All-Star Game<br />
produces fiesta of volleyball<br />
Two of Russia’s Olympic heroes were pitted against each other in a<br />
novel twist on the All-Star Game format at the Druzhba Sports Arena<br />
in Moscow. Maxim Mikhaylov and Sergey Tetyukhin were appointed<br />
as captains of the two teams and the 24-year-old Mikhaylov led a<br />
side made up of the cream of Russia’s crop of youngsters, while<br />
Tetyukhin, 37, captained a side composed entirely of players over 30.<br />
Alexander Volkov was coach of Mikhaylov’s team and was assisted<br />
courtside by Russia’s coach at the London Games Vladimir Alekno.<br />
Read more online<br />
Maxin Mikhaylov led a side of young players to glory in the Russian All-Star Match.<br />
C<strong>ON</strong>FEDERATI<strong>ON</strong>S<br />
CAVB / CEV<br />
23
24<br />
CSV<br />
Pasos eyeing future at top<br />
of the volleyball world<br />
In the rarefied air of Medellin, Colombia a player is starting to emerge<br />
for whom the country has high hopes.<br />
Veronica Pasos may only be 17, but she is already a regular for<br />
Medellin side Antioquia and has captained the Colombia national<br />
team. At 1.80m tall, the young hitter is a powerful presence on the<br />
court and capable of dominating opponents, but she has had to fight<br />
hard to overcome traumatic events at a young age when her father<br />
was murdered.<br />
Read more online<br />
Colombia’s Veronica Pasos has had to fight hard, but is starting to make a big<br />
impression on the volleyball court.<br />
NORCECA<br />
Nicole Fawcett turns<br />
on record breaking display<br />
The US women’s national volleyball team has developed a large pool<br />
of talent it can call upon with confidence to compete for a spot on the<br />
medal podium in any international tournament. This depth of talent<br />
has helped USA climb to the top spot in the FIVB rankings, claim<br />
back-to-back Olympic Games silver medals, earn three consecutive<br />
FIVB World Grand Prix gold medals and the silver medal at the FIVB<br />
World Cup among victories in other competitions.<br />
Read more online<br />
Nicole Fawcett has already enjoyed a varied career including international honours,<br />
at a young age.<br />
C<strong>ON</strong>FEDERATI<strong>ON</strong>S<br />
CSV / NORCECA
Phuket Open October 29 - November 3<br />
Xiamen Open October 23-27<br />
São Paulo Grand Slam October 9-13<br />
Beijing Grand Slam October 2-6<br />
Kampala Open September 25-29<br />
Vizag Open September 04-08<br />
Moscow Grand Slam August 21-25<br />
London Open * August 14-18<br />
9<br />
10 11<br />
8<br />
Anapa Open July 23-28<br />
Berlin Grand Slam August 7-11<br />
Long Beach Grand Slam July 23-28<br />
Fuzhou Open Fuzhou, China 23.04 - 28.04<br />
Shanghai Grand Slam Shanghai, China 30.05 - 05.05<br />
Corrientes Grand Slam Corrientes, Argentina 22.05 - 26.05<br />
World Cup Final Campinas, Brazil 29.05 - 02.06<br />
U23 World Championships Myslowice, Poland 06.06 - 09.06<br />
The Hague Grand Slam The Hague, Netherlands 11.06 - 16.06<br />
Rome Grand Slam Rome, Italy 18.06 - 23.06<br />
U21 World Championships Umag, Croatia 20.06 - 23.06<br />
World Champs Mazury Stare Jablonki, Poland 01.07 - 07.07<br />
Gstaad Grand Slam Gstaad, Switzerland 09.07 - 14.07<br />
U19 World Championships TBD 11.07 - 14.07<br />
Long Beach Grand Slam Long Beach, USA 23.07 - 28.07<br />
Durban Open December 11 - 15<br />
7<br />
Gstaad Grand Slam July 9-14<br />
U19 World Championships July 11-14<br />
12<br />
OPEN<br />
World Championships Mazury July 1-7 U21 World Championships June 20-23<br />
WORLD C<strong>UP</strong> / WORLD CHAMPS<br />
GRAND SLAM<br />
1<br />
2 3 4 5 6<br />
Rome Grand Slam June 18-23<br />
Legend: * Event to be confirmed<br />
Fuzhou Open April 23-28<br />
Shanghai Grand Slam April 30 - May 5<br />
Corrientes Grand Slam May 22-26<br />
World Cup Final May 29 – June 2<br />
U23 World Championships June 6-9<br />
The Hague Grand Slam June 11-16<br />
BEACH <strong>VOLLEYBALL</strong><br />
2013 CALENDAR<br />
Anapa Open Anapa, Russia 23.07 - 28.07<br />
Berlin Grand Slam Berlin, Germany 07.08 - 11.08<br />
London Open * London *, England 14.08 - 18.08<br />
Moscow Grand Slam Moscow, Russia 21.08 - 25.08<br />
Vizag Open Vizag, India 04.09 - 08.09<br />
Kampala Open Kampala, Uganda 25.09 - 29.09<br />
Beijing Grand Slam Beijing, China 02.10 - 06.10<br />
São Paulo Grand Slam São Paulo, Brazil 09.10 - 13.10<br />
Xiamen Open Xiamen, China 23.10 - 27.10<br />
Phuket Open Phuket, Thailand 29.10 - 03.11<br />
Durban Open Durban, South Africa 11.12 - 15.12