AMBITIONS AND STAFF

Volleyball club "Gazprom-Ugra" was officially released from vacation - on Monday passed the first team meeting. The boys gathered on the platform "Premier Arena", where on wednesday, after passing medical examination, the first training session of the renewed team will take place.

In the meantime, everyone listened carefully to the head coach Yuriy Melnychuk: "I want, so that in the new season each of you take a step forward for yourself, then all together, team, we will also take a step forward... The team will only be formed through work and overcoming difficulties, a lot will depend on the microclimate, from trusting each other...".

Yuri Vladimirovich announced his goals for the season - to reach the semi-finals of the Russian Cup and break into the top six in the championship. The team captain was appointed - Oleksiy Pluzhnikov, and vice-captain - Артем Хабибуллин. New players have sorted out free game numbers, listened to the requirements for the training process and got acquainted with a first approximation of the training program. The team will have four intensive four-day cycles plus a week with an emphasis on volleyball - after which at the end of August Gazprom-Yugra will go to a tournament in Minsk, where he will play against Zenit Kazan, local "Builder" and MSTU from Moscow.

Yury Melnychuk promised “immediately throw the team under the tanks”, i.e. upon arrival in Minsk, play a friendly game with the Belarusian national team, wherein, by the way, Another Gazprom-Yugra newcomer will play - Paul Avdochenko. Pavel will join the Surgut team after the European Championship, when to expect the second legionnaire – a Pole Mateya Mouzaia - It's not clear yet, after all, he can play for the national team not only at the continental championship, but also at the World Cup.

“So foreign countries won’t help us yet, - Melnichuk joked and added, “The main burden will fall on you.”. From Minsk the team will move to St. Petersburg, where in early September he will play at the Vyacheslav Platonov Memorial, and already 16 September the first round of the preliminary part of the Russian Cup starts in Surgut, where our rivals will be Kuzbass, «New», "Lokomotiv-Izumrud" from Ekaterinburg, "Tyumen" and Magnitogorsk "Metallurg". "To this moment, – comments the senior coach, “We need to learn how to win”.

Yuri Vladimirovich also emphasized the importance of each training session: after all, the start in the Russian championship will be very stormy - in the first month the team will play eight of 19 games of the preliminary part of the tournament. “There’s no time to swing. The first month will be decisive in many ways, All teams understand this, everyone will rush right off the bat. It is necessary to forget the last season and concentrate on new opportunities. At the start everyone has zero. Let's start".

After the meeting, we took a quick commentary from some of its participants.

Leonid Schadilov: “The team was chosen evenly, I know everyone, played with someone in a club, with someone - in teams, so there will be no problems with establishing connections. As far as I understand, There will be a lot more volleyball in preparation for the season, because we need to gain momentum faster. Tasks, set by the coaching staff, we can do it - maybe, we'll even exceed it. As for the new championship formula, our task is to play and win, It doesn’t matter what formula”.

Artem Kiselev: “Last season I played in Japan, returned to Russia in early March. I called Rafael Talgatovich Khabibullin. I wanted to return to the Russian championship, I wanted to play in Surgut - I sympathize with this team. Agreed to view, I trained with the guys, we talked about everything and decided, that we will cooperate.

As for Japan, the championship there is exotic, it differs from Russian and European, greater emphasis is placed on protection, on tactics, technique. Very strong players arrive - the same Musersky, Cube. It was very interesting to play there: another vision of volleyball, different environment. But I still wanted to test my strength in the Super League.

Коллектив в Сургуте подобрался сильный, практически всех ребят я знаю. При новой формуле каждая игра имеет большую ценность, не так много времени на раскачку, сразу нужно завоевывать высокие позиции. I think, нам это под силу. Чемпионат будет интересным и для нас, и для болельщиков».

Yuriy Melnychuk: «Я рад, что все вовремя приехали, everyone is healthy, хорошо отдохнули. The guys came to work and prove, that they are real athletes and want to progress. The current team is, primarily, players' ambitions. They should add, take a new step in your career. Our basis this season is ambition and team, everyone's ambitions are melted into an ambitious team as a whole. Well, if we manage to train one more player for the national team, that’s also a good goal.

I'm not that person, who will evaluate the championship formula. When you are driving a car, You don’t appreciate the rules of the road, although you may not like something. The current formula has its pros and cons., and we'll just try to get the most out of it. Everything depends on us: как подготовимся и как войдем в чемпионат. Одно могу сказать точно – цена побед будет гораздо выше».

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