Massimo Barbolini is one of the secrets of the gold medal of the Italian women’s volleyball team. Because despite being the most successful coach in activity, he agreed to return to a role he held in 1989, that of assistant to Julio Velasco.
And now he is preparing to open another frontier: in November he will go to coach in the first American professional championship.
Barbolini, when you look back, what effect does it have on having written history?
“It’s even more beautiful because you realize all the steps, you think about what happened in the past. For me the Olympics were the only real disappointment of my career, in Beijing. This satisfaction is truly exceptional, going forward we will realize better and better what we have done, we are the first national volleyball team ever in Italy to bring home the gold”.
Well deserved, by the way.
“It’s a reward for the work, for the sacrifices made by these girls and by all of us in these months. I assure you that it wasn’t easy to get to where we got to, afterwards it seemed simple because instead of winning a final 3 to 2, 17 to 15, we lost only one set in the entire Olympics”.
How did you find Velasco again, you hadn’t worked together since 1989?
“Everyone told me: you know how it is with Jiulio. But that was 35 years ago… Then it’s true that we always stayed in touch, but he had changed and I had changed, in the meantime. I didn’t find big differences in his skills, that’s for sure. And the results were visible, he guided everyone impeccably, in the methodology, in the work, in the management of the group, in communication”.
The truth is that no national team had a staff with Velasco, Barbolini, Bernardi. How did you combine the three personalities?
“This was another great idea from Julio, in volleyball it’s probably the first time. In basketball it’s more usual, if we think about Scariolo who is the world champion assistant coach in Toronto, Ettore Messina in San Antonio, it’s something that has already happened at very high levels. In our case everything came together well, the important thing was to be clear from the beginning, then we know each other and respect each other, it was easy. Julio is the head coach, if it was necessary we all three discussed and in the end he made the decisions, knowing he could count on us. It wasn’t a very long summer, but there was time to try”.
You have been working in the women’s sector for years. Is it really more difficult to train women?
“It’s been a long time since I’ve trained men, but I would say no. Maybe the problems can be different, because men and women are different for better or for worse, you have to accept that. Maybe I was lucky, but I never had any major difficulties. Julio, for his part, made some things clear right away and there were no problems.”
Does social media have an impact, since we are talking about psychology?
“I honestly don’t know, it’s normal that kids today are influenced more than us, for better or for worse. I don’t use them, I don’t feel the need to read compliments or criticisms, I understand if I’ve done my job well or badly. But for young people it’s different, and sometimes it can even be dangerous. From what I understand, the girls were also good at isolating themselves, they were very intelligent”.
She is about to leave for the first women’s championship in the USA.
“I received the offer from this new League that was opening, it was something that honored me a lot, being the first foreign coach to be contacted. I think it’s a very interesting project, they involved practically all the silver medalists at the Olympics and many of the Olympic champions from Tokyo”.
She will coach in Houston.
“Yes, I will have Hancock and Thompson from the US national team, the Italians Folie and Loda, Bauer, other players coming out of college. In Texas there will also be Marco Bonitta, in Austin. The other teams will be in Salt Lake City, Atlanta, Madison and Omaha”.
What will he do without his family and his dog Tequila?
“I’ll leave in November, I’ll go alone for the first two months, my daughters are studying. We’ll see in the new year, at least my wife might be able to come. But I’ll be back by mid-April.”