27/03/2013 10:22
Volero signs Belgian mentor Jan de Brandt to pursue ambitious long-term goals
News from the clubs
Zurich, Switzerland, March 27, 2013. After claiming once more Switzerland’s national league and cup, Volero ZÜRICH has already embarked on ambitious plans for the next seasons, with a focus on the European Cups. In order to achieve such goals, Volero started out by contracting Belgian-born head coach Jan de Brandt for the next three years.
Before he switched to coaching, Jan José de Brandt played professionally for almost 15 years (1978-1991) in his native country; after coaching Spain’s CV TENERIFE, he moved to Turkey for the 2009/2010 season where he mentored Fenerbahce ISTANBUL along the way to their win in the national league and Supercup. That same year Fenerbahce played the final match of the CEV Volleyball Champions League in Cannes dramatically losing in the end to Italy’s Volley BERGAMO.
Starting from January 2011 de Brandt did work for Azerbaijan’s Igtisadchi BAKU. He was also the head coach of Belgium’s national teams – senior and junior – through 2005-2007 doing a good job in scouting and developing the talent of some young players who eventually helped Belgium become a good force to reckon with on the Continental arena. Though they had been working together only for a short period, the Belgian players finished seventh at the 2007 European Championship co-hosted by Belgium and Luxembourg and did join the final round of the following edition held in 2009. Svetlana Ilic – the former head coach of Volero – did previously work with de Brandt for three years as his assistant for Belgium’s national teams.
Ilic eventually left Zurich in September 2012 to move to Russia and coach there Dinamo MOSCOW, the side that ended the regular season of the Superleague in second place. “With this result Svetlana has proved her skills and that she’s eligible to work for the best teams in Europe. I think that she will be continuing her work abroad” Volero President Stav Jacobi says. Ilic was replaced by Slovenian-born Dragutin Baltic and Jacobi stresses he was satisfied with the work he delivered: “He did a good job and he laid down the foundations for the future of our young team”.
De Brandt will start his work for Volero in early May. “The contract with Jan de Brandt is like hitting the jackpot” Jacobi says. “With his long and extensive international experience he will be able to contribute to the short-term goals we have set and also to make sure, in some years, our team will be able to turn into a possible contender for the Champions League title”.
“Though I have repeatedly being assigned build-up work in various clubs, I do not see my role as simply the current head coach of Volero. My task is to contribute to their development in such a way that one day they will be able to win any international competition they join” the 54-year old Belgian who studied Professional Sports Management at Vrije Universiteit in Brussels stresses. De Brandt, who is married and has two children, is fluent in Dutch, French, German, English and Spanish.
|