The Volleyball Federation of Slovenia (OZS) has appointed Mark Lebedew as head coach of their men’s national team, which managed to achieve outstanding and unprecedented results in recent years. Slovenia has claimed as many as three silver medals from the last four editions of the European Championships, together with gold in the CEV European League, before emerging victorious from Groups III and II of the FIVB World League. More recently, Slovenia claimed the FIVB Challenger Cup title, qualified to the elite Volleyball Nations League (VNL), and played at the FIVB World Championships for the very first time in history in 2018. In recent years, the Slovenians made much progress in both the European and world rankings, where they currently sit in sixth and eighth place.
Mark Lebedew previously coached the national team of his home country, Australia (Picture courtesy of FIVB)
The team achieved their first successes under Andrea Giani’s guidance, with the Italian legend followed by Slobodan Kova? and Alberto Giuliani, but now the Federation has decided to work with Mark Lebedew.
“We had a very successful four-year cooperation with Alberto, but we decided that we needed a change for the next cycle with the World Championships and the Olympic Games qualifiers. Mark is an outstanding professional and we are confident that with him at the helm of our team we will continue the path that we have been following in recent years. His references and the quality of our players are a guarantee for that.”
Metod Ropret
President of the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia
Slovenia will be playing in the VNL and at the World Championships in 2022. Lebedew is already looking forward to both challenges: “Slovenia has a very good team, and it is a very exciting team to work with. Results from the last few years speak for themselves. Secondly, people from the team and Federation are good people to work with and there is a good environment to work in. That is attractive to everybody. I have big motivation to work in this year’s tournaments and to achieve even better results than in the past. The VNL starts early in the summer after a long club season and therefore it is difficult to say what can happen at this event. For sure, the competition will be a great opportunity for younger players to develop. Our main priority is the World Championships, where I am confident that we can improve the result from 2018.”
The 53-year-old Australian who has been involved in coaching at international and club level for over 20 years has contested all major events with the national teams of Australia and Germany and many top clubs in Italy, Poland, Germany, and Belgium.
Team Slovenia are the reigning EuroVolley silver medallists
“My way of playing volleyball is an aggressive way to play. I like to play fast, to attack the other team, to put pressure on the opponent with block and defence. I like to work together with players and the Slovenian team is very experienced. Tine Urnaut, Dejan Vin?i?, and Alen Pajenk are great players with a lot of experience. I want to use this to help the team make one step further,”
added Lebedew, who signed a two-year contract with the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia.
