TRENTO. “It’s the first time after the victory that I’ve looked at the images. Partly because I don’t go and look back and then I didn’t have the opportunity and I must say that I was emotional. We are now realizing what we have done. But there, game by game, point by point…”.
This was said by Julio Velasco, coach of the women’s national volleyball team, commenting at the Trento sports festival on the images of the Italian success with gold in Paris 2024. “We coaches have to convey to the team what it needs. This team came from a difficult year, she was very chatty and needed tranquility. To fight anxiety, to live moment by moment. There was no need to motivate her but to convey security and therefore I tried to remain impassive but inside me it’s different.” .
“The coach is a good actor, he has to convey something and he has to choose what, sometimes we get the choice right, sometimes we don’t. I don’t believe in speeches that have no consistency, no truth behind them. A coach must like his players, because they are his. Like children. If I like those of others, as happens with some coaches, it is difficult for the team to be convinced and have self-esteem, to have the strength to face other teams that are stronger on paper. You have to play better than the others”, concluded Velasco.