After the time for goodbyes, even difficult in some cases, it’s time to start discovering the new set-up of the Brescia 6+1, which is being renewed in view of the tenth consecutive presence in Serie A.
Coach Zambonardi is organizing a competitive team, but always oriented towards the internal balance of the group. The mix of youngsters and experts will therefore still be one of the ingredients of the Brescian roster and, after the confirmation of Andrea Franzoni in the free role, the first big shot arrives on the front line.
From the Polish Liga, here is the explosive left-handed opposite Niels Klapwijk: born in 1985, arrived in Italy for the first time in 2011 and with four seasons on his shoulders between Vibo and Ravenna (where, in 2021, he crosses Nicola Candeli), he spent the rest of the decade playing – and picking up four championships, two cups and two super cups – in his home Netherlands, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, Romania and Poland, where last season he defended the colors of Projekt Warszawa (finishing fifth), fighting on equal terms in the final phase of the championship with Zaksa, fresh winner of the Champions League final in Turin.
Two meters of power combine well with his 37 years, which guarantee great experience and technique: the mix preferred by coach Roberto Zambonardi. “Niels is a very strong player and above all a square professional dedicated to his work, according to those who played with and against him in his last season in the Superlega in Ravenna (2021/2022). It is an important blow for us – and it is not the only one -. I’m sure it will give us great strength as a team.”
The opposite, reached on the phone, has clear ideas: “The Polish championship from which I come is very competitive and I certainly have no intention of lowering the competitive rate by coming to Brescia. My role is to ground the hot balls and I’m not afraid of that responsibility. I take credit for closing the big points, but I can also handle the blame if I get them wrong. Perhaps it is precisely the strength of that emotion that I seek and that my role, through which so much of the attack passes, still allows me to find in volleyball. I play to bring my team to the top of the standings: it’s a challenge that I gladly take up, because I know that the competitive rate of A2 is now very high in Italy and I plan to have fun, together with a group of worthy athletes”.
