19/11/2019 11:00
San Marino to focus on work with younger players to grow their national teams
News from the National Federations
San Marino, November 19, 2019. Cristiano Lucchi has been working as the Technical Director of the Sammarinese women’s national teams since late 2018. Together with head coach Loris Polo, they helped the senior team secure fourth place at this year’s Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) held in Montenegro. Up until the spring of 2020, they will focus their work primarily on growing young players, especially those competing in age-group events.
“Since last year the Sammarinese Volleyball Federation have asked me to work on injecting fresh, young blood into the national team. This is a much-needed step, after many years where San Marino claimed medals with a group of players who are now ‘mature’. Last May we went to the Games of the Small States of Europe with a ‘core’ of experienced players together with some younger ones. We will switch our attention to the younger players during the 2019/2020 season, working every year with a well-defined goal in our mind. Right now, our wish is to reach the final stage of the Small Countries Association’s U19 championship, which is due to take place in Luxembourg in April 2020,” Lucchi says. “Working with this approach will stimulate the younger female players and contribute to their faster development.”
The goal Lucchi has set is not an easy one to reach, since a qualifying round is due to take place in January. “Since November 10, we have started the organisation of small camps that we will repeat every second week,” Lucchi continues. “During the holiday season we will be working with more intensity since there is a break in the national leagues as well. I will invite 14-15 players under the age of 19 to each camp, but some younger players – even under 14 – as well. There will be two to three senior players as well to raise the quality of the training and supposed to act as a sort of role model for the younger ones to look up to. This way, we can continue to work also with the development of our senior team, as the next goal will be the Games of the Small States of Europe in 2021 in Andorra.”
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