“They all had a great desire to start over.” In the group also some girls from the youth teams and the new Giorgia Frosini
Mirco Cavallin / TREVISO
The Imoco Conegliano champion of Italy, Europe and the world in office has really started to work in the gym, finding himself in the presence, after the first three days spent in front of the cameras via Zoom due to a contagion from Covid that is quickly solved.
In the gym of Rua di San Pietro di Feletto the ranks are still small but the desire to meet again, sweat and work to defend the titles won is really great. “The girls were already trampling on Monday – explains assistant coach Valerio Lionetti – and being able to leave was a liberation because they all had a great desire to go back to the gym”.
There are captain Joanna Wolosz, Robin De Kruijf, Lara Caravello, the new Giorgia Frosini, chosen as deputy Egonu, Giulia Gennari confirmed again this year as second setter and some girls of the Imoco San Donà youth teams (Trampus, Munarini and Giacomello ). There is also the public, silent but numerous: a hundred people in the afternoon alternated in the stands of the gym, equipped with Green Pass and rigorously spaced on the steps. Even for the fans there is a great desire to play volleyball and to see their favorites live, to support them in a season that promises to be even more demanding than the previous ones. «It is almost strange – adds Lionetti – but in recent years we have been accustomed to full-bodied presences even in the height of summer. These are things that only happen in Conegliano in volleyball ». Raphaela Folie, who returned from vacation on Tuesday, is not yet part of the group that worked for a couple of hours, and so will be for a few weeks: for the central team that had chosen long ago not to participate in the European Championship with Italy a period of individual work is foreseen, which is currently carried out in the morning. Only later will he join the rest of the group, after a careful evaluation of his athletic condition, especially those of his knees. The preparation work began gradually but with very precise stages that in six weeks will lead the team to defend the Super Cup against Novara; the physical conditions of the panthers are generally defined as good also for the summer program they followed during their holidays.
«We are happy to be able to work immediately with two of our foreigners as well, because the season will be full of commitments. We regularly hear from Daniele Santarelli verbally or via text: as long as he is at the European Championships with Croatia, I will keep him updated on the work we do. We aim to reach the top of the condition on October 2nd; now that there are few of us, we are able to take care of some technical aspects better ». Observing the team there was also the former panther Elisa Cella, who, after retiring from competitive activity, embarked on a career as a coach and entertained herself, with the expected distancing, together with Wolosz and De Kruijf, her companions in the Scudetto of 2018. During the training session the eyes of the fans were divided between the first dribbles of the Gialloblù and what happened in Zara where Italy was engaged against Belarus in their debut at the European Championship: the blue won 3 -0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-16), thanks to 20 points from Egonu (4 aces) and 11 from Sylla. Tomorrow at 20 the match against Hungary. –