Swiss Volley aims for long-term and sustainable success through Volleyball Empowerment

Switzerland’s men’s beach volleyball programme has been receiving FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for over a year, with CHF 72,000 specifically allocated to hiring Polish specialist Lukasz Fijalek to mentor the men’s national beach volleyball pairs.

Under coach Fijalek, Swiss volleyball teams enjoyed remarkable success throughout 2023. In particular, the 2023 Beach Pro Tour saw stellar performances from the Swiss athletes. The pairing of Marco Krattiger and Florian Breer, for example, won their first-ever gold on the Tour, topping the podium at June’s Futures tournament in Spiez at home, in Switzerland. They are currently the highest-placed Swiss duo in the men’s FIVB Beach Volleyball World Ranking at number 39.

Marco Krattiger spikes against Yves Haussener in the all-Swiss Spiez Futures final (Photo credits: cev.eu)

The fans in Spiez enjoyed an all-Swiss men’s final, in which Krattiger and Breer overcame the resistance of compatriots Quentin Metral and Yves Haussener, another Swiss duo in the top 50 of the World Ranking, currently 48th, for whom the silver was their third Beach Pro Tour medal.

Speaking after his win, Krattiger said: “My next personal target is also to make it to the Olympics in Paris. And I also want to become a more complete player and be able to beat the best teams in the world in the long run. I want to become a regular main draw player at Elite16 events and win medals there. This will hopefully bring me to the Olympics in 2028.”

Together with Adrian Heidrich and Leo Dillier, Metral and Haussener (pictured in attack in the main photo with coach Fiajalek watching from the bench; credits: cev.eu) were also part of the Swiss national team that won the Gstaad pool of the preliminary phase in Europe’s CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup, and qualified for the Finals - a path that could lead to a ticket to the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Coach Fijalek (left) celebrates with the Swiss national team on top of the podium at the Gstaad pool in the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup (Photo credits: cev.eu)

During the 2023 season, Heidrich and Dillier also claimed their first-ever Beach Pro Tour podium, a Leuven Futures bronze at July’s tournament in Belgium. Currently ranked 45th in the world, they are one of three Swiss pairs in the top 50 of the men’s chart.

Coach Fijalek added; “In the short term, the most important goal is to qualify at least one men's team for the Olympic Games in Paris. In the long term, my personal goal as a coach is to help the most talented players find the right style by developing their technical skills to perfection and strengthening their personal potential.”

Fijalek’s teams also saw success at the 2023 Leuven Futures, where the men’s gold went to another Swiss duo, Immanuel Zurcher and Jonathan Jordan; their first-ever world-level podium.

Immanuel Zurcher and Jonathan Jordan on top of the Leuven Futures 2023 men’s podium (Photo credits: cev.eu)

Following the success of Switzerland’s beach volleyball with Volleyball Empowerment support, the country’s National Federation is now looking to expand the benefits of the programme to volleyball.

With a six-month Volleyball Empowerment coach support project worth CHF 36,000 commencing in May 2024, Australia’s Lauren Bertolacci has been appointed as the head coach of the Swiss women’s national volleyball team Additionally, starting in January 2025, the U21 men’s junior national volleyball team will be mentored by head coach Marco Folmli on a 12-month CHF 72,000 Volleyball Empowerment coach support project.

Swiss Spiez Futures 2023 medallists (from left to right): Yves Haussener, Florian Breer, Quentin Metral, Marco Krattiger (Photo credits: cev.eu)

“Elite sports are developing rapidly. If you want to run them with excellence and integrity, you need to invest in the technical departments, travel costs, the medical department and support in the mental and tactical sector. This requires resources not only in the execution, but also in the management of high-performance programmes,” President Willi stated. “If the sports of volleyball and beach volleyball are to develop in this way and we, as a small nation of 8.5 million people, are to remain competitive, then we are dependent on the support of all funding systems - both state and the FIVB. This is the only way we can succeed in charting an inspiring path for the stars of tomorrow on both surfaces.”