An inventory of the volleyball third division teams USC Freiburg, VfR Umkirch and VC Offenburg.
The season of the third division volleyball teams from the region is coming to an end. In the first round since the pandemic began, USC Freiburg, VfR Umkirch and VC Offenburg fared differently. Catching votes between Breisgau and Ortenau.
David Kurz is currently experiencing stressful days. Last weekend he had an examination course on his way to the A license, now the examination phase of his studies follows. And at the same time, the 33-year-old player-coach at USC Freiburg led his team into the promotion round of the third division.
So all bright sunshine on the Black Forest Road? no way. In the late Wednesday afternoon, Kurz is more ambivalent. “The matchdays are super fun, that’s exactly why we went to the third division back then,” says Kurz. He is happy: “No team likes to play against us because we defend well and play disgustingly.” Surprisingly, his team has qualified for the promotion round and will probably hold the strong fourth place in the two remaining games. But Kurz also says: “The average number of participants in training is five or six, so you can’t do much about it.” His team consists of former Bundesliga players who have started their careers in recent years and have therefore reduced their sporting skills.
Setter Marc Zimmermann smashed in Rottenburg and at FT 1844 Freiburg in the second Bundesliga for almost a decade. Just like middle blocker August Sigle and outside attacker Max Meuter, who can even look back on several years of first division experience. Kurz himself and his libero Philipp Frey also played for several seasons at 1844 in the second division. On paper, there is actually no more experienced team in the third division. But Kurz rarely has the entire team together.
And the future is uncertain. “We have until May to report for the third division, but nothing is ready for a decision yet,” says Kurz.
A little further out of town in the direction of the Kaiserstuhl, Julian Hamacher also sorted his thoughts on Wednesday evening. With his third-division volleyball team from VfR Umkirch, the head coach is once again having a solid season. Fifth place is almost certain for his team. The high school teacher squinted a little at third place in the remaining two games of the season.
In Umkirch, too, they can be satisfied with their sporting success. But VfR has also experienced a season of staff shortages. “Private relocations and injuries have made training more difficult,” says Hamacher. Only recently, for example, diagonal attacker Sophia Bähr was injured. And recently, top performer Romy Glück was also absent with a capsule injury.
But Hamacher is known for his pragmatism. He made a virtue out of necessity. “We have become much more universal,” says the VfR coach and is happy about it. Since the beginning of the season he has played in a 4:2 system, which means that the two players also attack and, ideally, his team creates a majority situation at the net. “It works well,” says Hamacher.
Rarely are they all there in Umkirch
Like Kurz at USC, Hamacher also has an extremely strong squad for the third division. Sophia Prein, Johanna Ewald, Sophia Bähr have already been second division champions. But similar to USC, Hamacher has to live with the fact that he rarely has access to the entire squad. However, it is just as open how things will continue. Hamacher only knows so far: “There will be a change.”
It’s almost 60 kilometers further north, a little too early to reason retrospectively. VC Offenburg and its very young team are still in a relegation battle two games before the end of the season. The imponderables are great. It is not yet certain how many teams will be relegated. The Ortenau women are currently penultimate. “That could be enough,” suspects veteran Richarda Roth. But nothing is certain yet.
Despite the uncertainty, they are not dissatisfied with the current season under coach Vladimir Rakic in the Nord-West-Halle. “We knew about the risk when we start with such a young team,” says Roth. She finds: “We have developed in all elements.” What is missing, however, is the security in the basic elements. That’s the main reason why she and the former Bundesliga Libera Franziska Fried have recently helped out several times, giving the young team a good deal of self-confidence and calm.
At VC Offenburg they hope that they can still score points in the remaining games.
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