On Saturday in Turin, Tuomas Sammelvuo celebrated his biggest victory as a volleyball club team coach, when he piloted the Polish Kedzierzyn-Kozle to the Champions League winner.
Matti Lehtisaari,
Manu Myllyaho
Tuomas Sammelvuon the Polish team coached by Kedzierzyn-Kozle won the volleyball men’s Champions League. Sammelvuo’s crew defeated the Polish teams in the final Eemi Terportin represented by Jastrzebski 3–2 (26-28, 25-22, 25-14, 28-30, 15-12) in Turin.
For Sammelvuo, the Champions League victory was the second of his career, as he celebrated the championship as a player in the ranks of the French Tours in 2005. Now it was a perfect match as a coach as well. In addition to Sammelvuo, only Finns Riikka Lehtonen has won the Champions League.
– The team has already won a lot, but I myself had never won this as a coach. This also means a lot personally. The best experiences are when everyone feels at the moment of winning that they are something bigger than themselves, Sammelvuo told Urheilu.
Sammelvuo praised the organization of the entire club.
– Very nice company and long-term work. The coaching staff is great. In competitive sports, you play for the result, of course winning is great. We have had a really difficult season and an awful lot of matches, Sammelvuo said.
Sweet revenge from the Polish league finals
Sammelvuo and partners got a sweet revenge from the Polish League finals played earlier in May. Terportorti and Jastrzebski Wegiel just defeated Sammelvuo’s Kedzierzyn-Kozle in the finals with a 3-0 win.
– The finals didn’t go very well, but we worked really hard for ten days after that. I believe that work was visible here, Sammelvuo thought.
– It is not always obvious that players who have won a lot are humble enough to work. Big thanks to them, because this thing was built around them, Sammelvuo said.
Sammelvuo has won the Champions League now both as a player and as a coach. How do the profits differ?
– As a player I looked at things from a different angle, while as a coach you look at the whole. Not only on the field, but everyday life in the gym and in the club’s office. As a player, of course, you can’t look at things the same way, Sammelvuo compared.
– We had a really tight group in Tours, which was certainly not the best in Europe on paper. Everyone did their part for success, Sammelvuo returned to his winning moments as a player.