Men’s Volleyball, coach Narduzzi talks about the return to the court

Lorenzo Narduzzi and Team Volley Luiss Probios are finally back on the court. After many months away from the matches, the coach and his boys have found the excitement of the challenges, but also had to deal with the effects of the prolonged stop.

Coach, what did you tell the boys when you saw them again?

Actually, even though we couldn’t see each other, we were always in touch. Coming back together after such a long time was great, I could only share with them the happiness of playing again.

How has the team spent this long period of closure? Did you still manage to continue training?

It wasn’t easy, also because the guys are students and many of them have gone back to their respective cities. Training has been suspended and there was no way we could continue from home, since ours is a team sport and presence is essential. It would have been unthinkable to practice remotely, as we do with other disciplines.

How much did this stop affect the team’s physical and psychological shape? How did you find the guys when they came back?

Unfortunately, it has affected them a lot: we have to recover our form and game keeping. We’re out of breath and it showed in the first match, so much so that the guys got a little discouraged. In the second match we were already better. There’s a lot of work to do, but we’re loaded.

What are our seasonal goals?

At the moment we are involved in the Italian Cup of Serie D, where we hope to position ourselves at a very good level, and in an association tournament, the Opes, which we aim to win.

Your players are also students: how do you deal with the students’needs?

We all know that the priority is their academic performance. If that is lacking, they are not allowed to play. Obviously, training sessions are scheduled in the evening to avoid overlapping with lessons. In addition, travel times are optimized with transfers made available to athletes.

If you had to launch a slogan to address to the students who want to join your team, what would you tell them?

I would say that when they join our team they will find a real family: beyond the sporting commitment, those who play in Team Volley Luiss Probios have many friends, almost brothers, to whom they will remain attached over the years. There have even been engagements, which later became marriages, between players of the men’s team and players of the women’s team. This fellowship is definitely a great advantage on the court.