Lupka

Antiga ready for debut at the helm of Polish national team

16 May 2014

On the eve of the second-round qualifier starting on Friday at Hala Stulecia in Wroclaw, Poland’s head coach Stéphane Antiga, team captain Michal Winiarski and libero Pawel Zatorski addressed the media thereby sharing their respective expectations and goals. Poland will be playing the national teams of Latvia, the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Slovenia from Friday through Sunday before travelling to Ljubljana for the second round robin tournament coming up next week.
On the eve of the second-round qualifier starting on Friday at Hala Stulecia in Wroclaw, Poland’s head coach Stéphane Antiga, team captain Michal Winiarski and libero Pawel Zatorski addressed the media thereby sharing their respective expectations and goals. Poland will be playing the national teams of Latvia, the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Slovenia from Friday through Sunday before travelling to Ljubljana for the second round robin tournament coming up next week. 
The team is extremely focused and determined for much will be at stake already this weekend in Wroclaw. “Tomorrow we have a match with Latvia and right now this is the thing that really matters the most,” Winiarski said. “It is not a very comfortable situation for us to play in the second round of qualifications for the European Championship but this is what we got after our poor performance at last year’s Championship.”
It is indeed a very unusual situation since the last time Poland started their campaign from the qualification rounds was nine years ago. “We have to reset our minds, forget what we did at the tournament held last year in Gdansk and catch a flying start in this season. Unfortunately this is the way it works in any athlete’s career – you have ups and downs,” Winiarski added. “There is no place for taking things easy; we are focused on the upcoming matches.”
“We haven’t been playing together that long but I hope that this tournament will help us implement what we have practiced and ultimately turn our hard work into good results,” said libero Pawel Zatorski. 
The tournament in Wroclaw will mark the debut of Stéphane Antiga at the helm of the team. Only 10 days ago he retired from competitive sport after spending seven years in Poland. This way he knows very well all of the players included on the roster and with some of them he even won the national league only a couple of weeks ago, wearing the jersey of PGE Skra BELCHATOW. “It has been only a week since I switched from playing to coaching, but so far I like it,” Antiga said. “It is a very difficult job, but also a great and exciting experience. We did not have much time to prepare for this tournament but nevertheless I think that we are ready. This tournament is extremely important for our national team. I think that Slovenia will be our toughest rival here in Wroclaw, since they have some very good players. However, mines are well prepared, they have been working hard and their only goal is to win. If we can afford it, I will use this tournament as an opportunity to use and test all players on our roster. However, if needed, I also know who the ones I can rely the most on are. Of course we have some leaders in the group, but a leader is not necessarily the best or the strongest player. It is also about character and attitude. Leaders are very important for the team, on and off the court.”
Poland’s Volleyball family is very impressed with Antiga’s achievements, his friendly demeanour and good knowledge of the Polish language. “Yes, I am trying to speak some Polish. I still haven’t learned the lyrics of the national team because I did not have enough time but my children know them,” he said with a smile.  
“It was quite shocking to hear our coach speak Polish during the first practice we had with Stéphane,” Winiarski said. Indeed the last three coaches at the helm of the team – Raul Lozano, Daniel Castellani and Andrea Anastasi – did not speak Polish at all and interacted with their players in Italian or in English. 
The guys in red and white jerseys will start their home campaign on Friday playing Latvia following the match starring Slovenia and the F.Y.R. of Macedonia.

On the eve of the second-round qualifier starting on Friday at Hala Stulecia in Wroclaw, Poland’s head coach Stéphane Antiga, team captain Michal Winiarski and libero Pawel Zatorski addressed the media thereby sharing their respective expectations and goals. Poland will be playing the national teams of Latvia, the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Slovenia from Friday through Sunday before travelling to Ljubljana for the second round robin tournament coming up next week. 

The team is extremely focused and determined for much will be at stake already this weekend in Wroclaw. “Tomorrow we have a match with Latvia and right now this is the thing that really matters the most,” Winiarski said. “It is not a very comfortable situation for us to play in the second round of qualifications for the European Championship but this is what we got after our poor performance at last year’s Championship.”

It is indeed a very unusual situation since the last time Poland started their campaign from the qualification rounds was nine years ago. “We have to reset our minds, forget what we did at the tournament held last year in Gdansk and catch a flying start in this season. Unfortunately this is the way it works in any athlete’s career – you have ups and downs,” Winiarski added. “There is no place for taking things easy; we are focused on the upcoming matches.”

“We haven’t been playing together that long but I hope that this tournament will help us implement what we have practiced and ultimately turn our hard work into good results,” said libero Pawel Zatorski. 

The tournament in Wroclaw will mark the debut of Stéphane Antiga at the helm of the team. Only 10 days ago he retired from competitive sport after spending seven years in Poland. This way he knows very well all of the players included on the roster and with some of them he even won the national league only a couple of weeks ago, wearing the jersey of PGE Skra BELCHATOW. “It has been only a week since I switched from playing to coaching, but so far I like it,” Antiga said. “It is a very difficult job, but also a great and exciting experience. We did not have much time to prepare for this tournament but nevertheless I think that we are ready. This tournament is extremely important for our national team. I think that Slovenia will be our toughest rival here in Wroclaw, since they have some very good players. However, mines are well prepared, they have been working hard and their only goal is to win. If we can afford it, I will use this tournament as an opportunity to use and test all players on our roster. However, if needed, I also know who the ones I can rely the most on are. Of course we have some leaders in the group, but a leader is not necessarily the best or the strongest player. It is also about character and attitude. Leaders are very important for the team, on and off the court.”

Poland’s Volleyball family is very impressed with Antiga’s achievements, his friendly demeanour and good knowledge of the Polish language. “Yes, I am trying to speak some Polish. I still haven’t learned the lyrics of the national team because I did not have enough time but my children know them,” he said with a smile.  

“It was quite shocking to hear our coach speak Polish during the first practice we had with Stéphane,” Winiarski said. Indeed the last three coaches at the helm of the team – Raul Lozano, Daniel Castellani and Andrea Anastasi – did not speak Polish at all and interacted with their players in Italian or in English. 

The guys in red and white jerseys will start their home campaign on Friday playing Latvia following the match starring Slovenia and the F.Y.R. of Macedonia.

 

POLISH NATIONAL TEAM:

Settres: Fabian Drzyzga, Paweł Zagumny

Opposites: Grzegorz Bociek, Mariusz Wlazły

Wing-spikers: Michał Kubiak, Bartosz Kurek, Michał Ruciak, Michał Winiarski

Middle-blockers: Karol Kłos, Marcin Możdżonek, Piotr Nowakowski

Libero: Paweł Zatorski

© Polish Volleyball Federation, 2017