Samuele Papi, born in Ancona in 1973, will be the second coach of Gioiella Prisma Taranto, alongside coach Boninfante in leading the team.
The former Italian athlete has almost thirty years of activity as a player behind him, with 339 appearances for the Italian team and a notable list of achievements, both with the clubs (Falconara, Treviso, Cuneo, Piacenza) and with the national team, we remember the 2 World Cups, 3 European Championships, 5 World Leagues, 6 championships and 3 Champions Leagues won.
After abandoning his role as an athlete, Papi held the role of accompanying manager of the Italian men’s national team for a couple of years. The proximity between Prata and Treviso, where he lives, and above all the personal relationship with Coach Dante Boninfante with whom he shared several seasons between Treviso and Piacenza, brought Papi into contact with the reality of Prata where he got back into the game as a coach , assistant to coach Boninfante for the following three years, also in the role of second coach with the Greek national team from 2022.
Coach Papi’s statements upon signing:
“I started this life as a coach with Dante with whom I have always had an excellent feeling and given the excellent Taranto club which has taken a further important step with its third stay in the Super League category, speaking with the management and the Presidency I have to thanks, I immediately decided to follow him.
Taranto is an important place where I also came to play in the past and I remember it with pleasure, it is a serious reality that will face another difficult championship like the Super League, and to face it you will have to work a lot but have fun, only work leads to good results and it will be a great challenge that we will make the most of.”
Samuele Papi has always had long experiences and winning paths in his CV, many years in Treviso, Cuneo, Piacenza as an athlete and three long years in Prata as a coach.
“If I spent so many years in one place – continues Papi – it’s because I always felt good and it depended a lot on the state I was in, I always thought I was doing well both as an athlete and as a coach. I also hope the same with Taranto, I have always thought one step at a time and I believe that we grow with enthusiasm and a predisposition to work, I am certainly eager to see a PalaMazzola that fills up match after match, return to Experiencing the emotions of the Super League will be a great satisfaction for me.”
President Bongiovanni welcomes Samuele Papi thus: “It is with great pleasure that we welcome our new assistant coach, Samuele Papi, a true legend in the world of volleyball, a great athlete, a great person and a coach.
