From Japan to France, passing through the Philippines, up to Poland. It is the volleyball summer, and Matteo De Cecco’s “on the road”: the new assistant coach of Belluno Volleyball. He is technical assistant of the Slovenian national team, alongside coach Gheorghe Crețu (European champion with Zaksa, in 2022). De Cecco, in fact, lived the Nations League as a protagonist. And with a largely positive balance: «We won 8 games out of 12 in the first phase, then we stopped in the quarter-finals against Japan, which finished on the podium. Yes, all in all that’s fine: we are in a construction phase and, moreover, we did not have the opposite owner ».
DREAMING OF PARIS – But the journey is far from over: “On 2 August we will resume preparations in Ljubljana in view of the European Championship at the end of the month”. Slovenia will play in Varna against the hosts Bulgaria, Ukraine, Finland, Croatia and Spain: «It’s an event we care about – continues De Cecco – but it’s useless to hide that the focus is above all on qualifying at the Paris 2024 Olympics, scheduled for October. It applies to us, as it does to anyone.”
OPEN SUITCASE – It is a summer with the suitcase always open, therefore. And the thought constantly turned to what awaits him in less than three months: the experience in A3, in the Belluno Volleyball staff. «In recent days I met with Gian Luca Colussi, returning from a refresher course for coaches. We discussed how to set up the preparation and structure it in the best possible way to achieve the main goal of the start of the season: to be ready for the first official race». The date to mark on the calendar is October 15, when the rhinos will receive Cus Cagliari at the Spes Arena: «A difficult and expensive championship awaits us. And, in this sense, intelligent programming can bear excellent results. That’s why it’s important to start immediately in a positive way».
MORAL OBLIGATION – De Cecco reveals a tasty background: «Even in the national team, many colleagues and insiders nominate me as Belluno. An increasingly recognized square in the volleyball scene. And it could not be otherwise: in the Dolomites there is a company that is working hard to build an ambitious project.
