The captain of the Hermaea Olbia hangs up her knee pads: “My husband passed on his love for this land to me, my daughter speaks in Sardinian”
SASSARI Jenny Barazza closes the door to volleyball and opens a door to Sardinia. Last Monday, before the A2 match played in Golfo Aranci against the Talmassons, the captain of Hermaea Olbia made official his farewell to volleyball. He will still be on the field next tomorrow in Ravenna and in the recovery against Martignacco on Monday, then he will hang up his knee pads and from there he will devote himself to other aspects of volleyball.
«I’m sorry, but physically I couldn’t take it anymore – it is his first statement – the passion is always there, but the ailments, which I have been carrying around for some years now, are getting worse. It is difficult, and I know that I will miss it very much. Until a few days ago I saw it as a liberation, but now melancholy has already taken over ».
No regrets in your sporting adventure in Olbia?
“No. Something could have been better, but both my friends and I have always given 100%. And then the goal was not so much the ranking as to make good volleyball, to show and share this passion with our warm audience and with the whole city ».
In Olbia since 2017, he immediately conquered the environment, beyond his indisputable sporting merits. So much so that the company has announced the retirement of its jersey, the number 8.
«An incredible gesture, which in sport is granted to very few athletes, and which gave me an unforgettable emotion».
It will only move a little further than the playing field.
«Covid permitting, we will try to grow the youth sector, and I will be among the technicians. In addition, we are evaluating the possibility of a managerial role in the first team. We’ll see which one, I’m available ».
How do you see the future of Hermaea?
“I think a huge job is being done behind Serie A. The pandemic has stopped us, but compared to before there have been big improvements from the management point of view, at these levels it also takes that to guarantee maximum professionalism” .
Fra Jenny Barazza, Sardinia was love at first sight. Galeotto meets Alberto Castelli, Bitti’s soccer goalkeeper, also in Serie A in Cagliari: marriage, and your daughter is ten years old, born by choice in Nuoro. Then the transfer to Olbia, to follow the company started by her husband, Mirto Sannai.
«I came to the island to stay there, I live very well here. My husband passed on to me his unconditional love for this land, the pride of being Sardinian. Even at home he speaks Sardinian with the child ».
Your relationship with the sea?
“Oh my God, apart from this specific period, it’s a passion that I discovered, even if I don’t have the skin to be in the sun all day. So I have to be careful, but we often spend a day at the beach ».
What about food?
«I have always appreciated that everywhere, here I discovered the great lunches at religious holidays, the snacks where you eat so many supernatural things at zero kilometer and cooked in an incredible way. I also have in-laws who are extraordinary in the kitchen, which probably accelerated the end of my competitive career … ».
How does he cope with the dialect?
«I understand very well the barbaricino, which is what my husband talks about. A little less Gallurese, also because in Olbia I don’t find many people who speak it ».