Polish volleyball, which is one of the most dominant team sports in the country after football, attracts interest in the form of spectators in the arenas and fans who put their trust in their favorite athletes through sportsbooks. Those interested in the latter can check legalbuk.pl for information on Polish sportsbooks.
However, the future of the sport, it seems, is in an indefinable haze after the recent resignation of their head coaches for men and women.
Men’s head coach Vital Henen announced he will no longer mentor the national squad after his team’s bronze medal finish at the end of the prestigious European Volleyball championship in September 2021. And women’s head coach Jacek Nawrocki resigned from his post soon after the same tournament, where his team reached the quarterfinals.
Although Henen did not announce the reason for his departure, there seems to be no controversy panning out of it, like it was just a normal unfortunate transition, with teary-eyed players accepting the loss of their head coach with understanding, regret, and sadness.
It was not the same for Jacek Nawrocki, however, who opted to be with Chemik Police after he was made to choose between the club and the national team. Nawrocki had wanted to coach both teams simultaneously, but the union disagreed and enjoined him to choose only one.
Reports of animosity between Nawrocki and some of his players had been circulating in the media as early as 2019 when the national players issued a statement suggesting that they were not working well with their coach. This prompted the Polish Volleyball Federation to arrange a series of meetings between coach Nawrocki and all the players who saw action in the prestigious European championship where the team wound up 4th.
Details of the meetings were not released and were largely brushed aside by coach Nawrocki, who simply reported that the talks were “sincere, a matter of fact, and exhausting.”
In 2020, shortly before the team’s preparations for a series of tournaments, Nawrocki released the pool of national team candidates, with some names conspicuously absent from the list, including national team mainstays Malwina Smarzek and Joanna Wołosz.
Nawrocki quickly noted that this was not the result of any unresolved disputes, but the press suspected that something was amiss.
The situation eased up a bit after the resignation announcement last September, but now the players have finally decided to openly discuss their grievances against their former mentor in an interview with tabloid “Daily Fakt.” Smarzek described the issue in six words – “lack of trust on both sides.”
Having identified what essentially is an issue with profound impact on any team sport, coach Nawrocki may have just saved his former team from reversing what he has accomplished for Poland – silver medal at the European Games in 2015, 4th place CEV EuroVolley in 2019, 5th place in the 2019 FIVB Nations League, and 4th in the CEV EuroVolley in 2021.
As of this writing, more than 10 coaches, including coach Henen and several other world-renowned volleyball strategists, are on the sidelines waiting to be appointed to help rebuild trust and inspire teamwork for Poland’s national volleyball team.
With a team built around tall (1.85m and above), talented, and passionate players, a new coach with the ability to develop and nurture teamwork and trust, will be like a double-edged sword that can cut the competition both ways – from the coaching board and from the playing court.
But right now, this is better said than done.
The volleyball federation’s new president Sebastian Swiderski is still working on his options and has asked the opinion of the players on some of the leading candidates. “The fact that someone is asking our opinion is already a big change,” noted Smarzek.
