20/11/2020 15:09
Avital Selinger returns to lead Dutch women’s national team
News from the National Federations
Utrecht, Netherlands, November 20, 2020. Avital Selinger has returned to the role of head coach of the Dutch women’s national team. Selinger has signed a contract up to and including the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship 2022, which will be taking place in the Netherlands and Poland. The former setter of the Dutch men's team was previously national coach of the Orange women between 2004 and 2011.
During the last tournament contested by the team, the CEV Tokyo Volleyball European Qualification 2020 in Apeldoorn last January, Italian Giovanni Caprara was responsible for leading the Netherlands. After failing to qualify for the Olympics, Caprara agreed with the Dutch Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) not to renew his contract.
In the summer of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic resulted in the cancellation of all international competitions that the Dutch women’s national team was due to contest. As a result, there was no urgency to appoint a new head coach at that time, and it was possible to search carefully for the candidate with the right profile. The players of the national team kept themselves fit by training at Papendal.
The Nevobo has now reached an agreement with Selinger, who has been working for the federation since August 2019 as the head trainer / coach of Talent Team Papendal. He will combine the position of national team coach with that of talent coach.
Avital Selinger will have two new assistant coaches to work with him: former international Francien Huurman (assistant trainer / coach Talent Team Papendal) and Erik Reitsma (assistant trainer / coach Allianz MTV STUTTGART). Rianne Verhoek remains as video scout. The Dutch Federation will announce the names of the remaining staff members at a later stage.
Technical director Joop Alberda explains the choice: “Since August 2019 I have seen Avital at work with our talents at Papendal. He functions excellently there and is in the hall with a lot of energy every day. Avital has a lot of experience and is the ideal trainer / coach to guide this team to the World Championship 2022 in their own country. In addition, we have developed an ambitious programme under the name of ‘Project 2022’ that also continues during the club season. It is a great advantage that Avital is available twelve months a year to supervise this programme.”
“We went looking for a head coach with international knowledge and experience, who is also familiar with the upcoming talents in the Netherlands. We also had a strong preference for a Dutch coach. Avital meets all these requirements. We also want to guide and support young ambitious coaches in the Netherlands, and he will be an important link for this as well. With Francien [Huurman], who played no fewer than 422 international matches, we get an incredible amount of experience with the team. A woman on the coaching staff was also essential for us.”
Avital Selinger together with his assistant and former Dutch team member Francien Huurman
Avital Selinger comments on his return as national coach of the Orange team: “As far as I am concerned, being able to coach your own national team is the highest achievement in our sport. It is therefore a great honour that I was approached to become national coach. The Dutch team has performed incredibly well since 2015 and has developed into one of the best teams in the world.”
“We have a great group of players, many of whom I have worked with in my first period as a national coach. There is also a group of young girls ready to seize their chance. It is a challenging period, and I am happy to take responsibility of leading this team towards the World Championship in our own country.”
“According to this agreement I can be the national coach for twelve months a year, and that is in line with my vision to guarantee continuity. In the summer I will mainly focus on the present, and in the winter I will plan for the future.”
Avital Selinger about the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship 2022 in the Netherlands: “The World Championship is so huge, and it is unique that we can experience it in our lives that this event is organised in the Netherlands. We should draw inspiration from this and enjoy it very much. We volleyball players have always been pioneers in the Netherlands, both on and off the court. Bringing in this World Championship, for the first time in history, is another example of this.”
Response of team captain Maret Grothues on behalf of the players’ council: “Avital is a world-class trainer and a very good educator. He makes players better individually and is technically very strong. We look forward to working with him towards the 2022 World Championship in our own country.”
CV Avital Selinger
From 2004 to 2011, the former Orange setter was the coach of the Dutch women’s national team. In that period, the team won gold at the FIVB World Grand Prix (2007) and silver at the 2009 edition of the CEV European Championship. From the 2005-2006 season, most players from the national women's team under Selinger played for DELA Martinus Amstelveen in the Dutch league. Selinger was also head coach of the men’s national team of his native Israel (Selinger was born in Haifa).
Israeli-Dutch Selinger achieved great successes as a club coach. He won no fewer than ten national titles in various competitions and claimed national cups and Super Cups many times as well.
With Spanish club TENERIFE Marichal, Selinger won the CEV Champions League in 2004, while in 2013 he claimed gold in the CEV Challenge Cup with the Russian team of Dinamo KRASNODAR. He also won a gold medal in the Asian club championship (with Japan’s Hisamitsu Springs KOBE) and a bronze medal in the FIVB Club World Championship with Volero ZÜRICH. In addition to the Netherlands, Selinger has worked in Japan, Spain, Russia, Switzerland and France, among others, throughout his career.
As a player, he won a silver medal at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics as well as bronze from the 1989 and 1991 editions of the European Championship held in Sweden and Germany, respectively.
Pictures courtesy of Ronald Hoogendoorn
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