We definitely want to play well during European Championship and our goal is advance to the next round, but personally I just take it day by day“, said Jan Stokr.

 

 

 

If there is an ambassador to be chosen for Volleyball in the Czech Republic, this is certainly Jan Stokr. He is practically to be seen on all billboards and advertising materials promoting the EuroVolley 2011 disseminated along the way from Prague to Karlovy Vary.

Well, I am not very much used to this kind of popularity and exposure” says the always humble Jan, his down-to-earth personality being somehow in contradiction with his massive body (he is 206 cm tall and weighs 110 kilos) and the terrific series of wins he claimed this past season with Italy’s TRENTINO Volley.

I think this VIP status is a very strange experience also for my parents and relatives, they also cannot fully realize that my portrait is being displayed almost everywhere at the moment” he admits.

Stokr sky-rocketed to the top of the world’s Volleyball elite after moving to Trento and sweeping all major competitions held in the past 10 months, starting with the FIVB Club World Championships in Doha, Qatar, this past December, before winning the CEV Volleyball Champions League in front of a colorful home audience in Bolzano and round out his campaign with Italy’s national league in May being awarded as MVP of the final game – the so-called “V-Day” – against archrival Bre Banca Lannutti CUNEO.

We definitely want to play well and our goal is advance to the next round, but personally I just take it day by day. As I moved to Trento, people there were identifying the trophies we were expected to seize already before the start of the season and this does not fully fit to my philosophy as Volleyball player. We have a difficult Pool in this European Championship, with Portugal and Estonia being strong teams and of course Russia standing out as the absolute favorite of the tournament. I just want to take the matches one by one, hoping to play well and stay injury-free”.

In my opinion volleyball here in the Czech Republic is gradually going down and we hope that this European Championship will change this negative trend. Many clubs, even quite decorated, have been confronted with financial hardship; apart from a few teams that join the European Cups and have got the chance to sign good players, the level is pretty low and many players are students or just dedicating not that much time to the sport as they have to work at the same time. The conditions are not ideal, sponsors are rarely there to help the clubs and this affects also the development of our national teams” he adds.

source: CEV