Ekaterina Gamova came to Minsk for the CIS Games as the curator of youth teams. We spoke with her about the national team playing in Minsk and the development of lone players.
– We have three ages in the junior teams, and the team participating in the CIS Games is the youngest (born in 2008-2009). Last year we collected them for the first time. They don’t have much time to play, but there is progress, and that makes us very happy,” says Gamova, introducing us to the team playing in Minsk. We are still trying to put teams together. Previously, each training camp was a stage of preparation for the world or European championships, or a kind of qualifying competition. At the moment there are no such competitions for us, we still try to gather youth teams, organize long training camps with trips for friendly matches with Belarus. The middle-aged spent much less expense, unfortunately. There was no one to play with, there were no competitions, only friendlies, and they decided to let them go early enough in the summer so they could join their clubs and start preparing for the season. .
– Does the lack of high-level competitive practice have a strong impact on the development of female athletes at this age?
– Unfortunately yes. I never met the teams of Tajikistan and Armenia on my way – we played in different tournaments according to the territorial principle, and in larger ones, as a rule, they give up at an early stage of selection. The U-19 World Cup has just ended. Our team won the last world championship in this age category. And the fact that they’re not playing it now is a big omission for their development.
“Does our own level help?”
– Our volleyball is not at a low level, but lately I think it has taken a dip. There are reasons for this, including financial ones. There are few high-level foreigners who come to us, since we are excluded from European Cup tournaments. Now they tend to go to Turkey, Italy, China.
– If the girls have the possibility to play for foreign clubs, what do you think of these chances?
– I think it’s a good opportunity for the development of young players to compete at European level. A number of young players play us abroad, but there is an age requirement for the transition.
– How to keep athletes in volleyball in the current situation?
“We hope for the best. I am a member of the Athletes’ Commission of the Russian Olympic Committee, the sports management is always in contact with international federations, the International Olympic Committee, and there are always negotiations about a return.
— Many sports have started cooperating with Chinese federations. Do you have any leads on this?
– China is always a question mark, they will never do anything to their own detriment. Many countries refuse to compete with us, fearing sanctions from international federations. We’ve had cases where China agreed, then they just disappeared, and it all ended in nothing.
– Were you hoping to play at the Universiade? It was said that it was theoretically possible.
We don’t believe in theories. This will not work, we have a competition plan approved by the Ministry of Sports. You can’t just put something like that in there.
– Are you going to watch the European Championship?
– Of course, I want to see what level volleyball is at, see the redistribution in the rankings, where teams appear that were not in such positions when we played. But it’s not due to our absence, it’s due to the development of volleyball.
– So the return won’t be easy?
“It will be very difficult, I think so. I am realistic.
– Then there is no need to ask about participation in the Olympics.
– I don’t believe in admission to the Olympics. As far as I know, there are a number of conditions, the athlete of which should not be a member of the sports societies of CSKA, Dynamo. For game species, this is almost impossible. For example, we have a lot of Dynamo clubs.
– Nevertheless, the IOC’s recommendations currently only concern international tournaments, not the Olympics.
– I think it will not be possible to separate all this, the international federations and the athletes will simply be against it.
– Do you already have new agreements on the matches of the junior teams?
– Now they will return to the clubs, we will monitor their development, but so far there are no new friendlies at national team level for them.
Source : MatchTV
I’m John White and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. My specialty is covering sports news, which I’ve been doing for over 6 years now. During this time, I have worked as an author with Athletistic, a popular online news website focusing on sports topics.
