Well that was quick!
Less than 2 weeks after he announced his resignation as the head coach of Germany’s women’s volleyball team, one of the most successful coaches in the last decade, Giovanni Guidetti, has signed on to be the new head coach of The Oranjes aka Dutch women’s volleyball team for 2 years.
The Netherlands Volleyball Federation (Nevobo) has announced that Giovanni Guidetti will take over as the new head coach of the Dutch women’s team.
The 42-year-old Italian, who stepped down from his role as coach of Germany’s women’s team at the beginning of the month, was presented to the press on Thursday afternoon at the Omnisport hall in Apeldoorn, which will host the Netherlands when they play their group matches in the 2015 CEV Volleyball European Championship.
Giovanni Guidetti is a big name in the volleyball world. The Italian was head coach of the German women’s team from 2006-2014, winning two silver medals at the European Championships (2011 and 2013), gold in the European League (2013) and bronze at the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix (2009). Earlier in his career, Guidetti was head coach of Bulgaria and assistant coach of Italy.
Guidetti combines his work as a national team coach with coaching a club team. Since 2008, he has led Turkish club Vakifbank Spor Kulübü in Istanbul, winning several league titles, national cups, the FIVB Volleyball Club World Championship and the European Champions League (twice). Robin de Kruijf, the captain of the Dutch volleyball team, also plays for Vakifbank.
Before Guidetti started in Istanbul, he worked for Italian clubs Chieri Volley, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Vicenza Volley and Volley 2000 Spezzano. With Chieri Volley, he won the Top Teams Cup (CEV Cup) in 2005. He also spent some time in the United States, working for the USPV (United States Professional Volleyball League).
Guidetti will take assistant coach Gil Ferrer Cutino with him to the Netherlands. Guidetti and Ferrer Cutinho worked together successfully in Germany. The Nevobo will also add a Dutch assistant coach to the staff, to enhance relations with the country’s talent programmes and the Dutch first league.
“For me it is a great honour to be appointed as head coach of the Dutch team,” said Guidetti. “In the fifteen years that I have been active in international volleyball, I often played against the Netherlands. I have always had great respect for this team and I think the current squad is extremely talented. Obviously there is still much work to do, but I seriously think that this group is able to play for the medals at the upcoming European Championships.”
Captain Robin de Kruijf, who plays for Guidetti in Istanbul, is very pleased about the appointment of the Italian. “It’s great that Giovanni will be my coach at both my club and the national team,” she said from Turkey. “He is a top coach from whom I learn a lot every day. I am convinced that we can achieve great things under his guidance.”
“We are very proud to present Giovanni as the new head coach of our ladies team,” said Joëlle Staps, general manager of the Nevobo. “Under his leadership we expect our women’s team to perform well at the major tournaments in the upcoming years. By linking him to a Dutch assistant coach from our full-time coaching pool, we are ensuring direct contact between the national team and the talent programmes.”
Coach Gio arrived in style when he was officially presented a few days ago.
He landed like this…