The third division volleyball teams in Umkirch, Freiburg and Offenburg.
After a year with almost no volleyball, the three third division teams in the region are preparing for the new season. What are you doing in Umkirch, Freiburg and Offenburg?
A few weeks ago they rebuilt the beach fields on Sandfangweg at the sports university – in the east of Freiburg between Schwarzwaldstrasse and Kartäuserstrasse. The times seemed even darker, the incidence figures were still consistently high a year after the first lockdown, team sports were out of the question. The USC Freiburg third division volleyball players wanted to be ready if the situation improved.
The sun is now shining in Breisgau, and the number of infections has dropped nationwide. The USC system is crashed again. After six months without any volleyball, the third division team is gearing up for the coming season. They are also allowed to go into the hall again. Happy times.
David Kurz also currently has good prospects. He says, “It’s been a long time without volleyball.” The prospective teacher has used the time for his studies, in the autumn he will start his practical semester. And from summer he will start his A-trainer training. “I’m really looking forward to that,” said the player-coach. The 32-year-old has been training at USC Freiburg since 2014. As a coaching external attacker, he first established the team in the regional league and then grabbed a unique opportunity together with the department last year: Because the association broke off the season due to the pandemic in spring 2020, he granted all teams a right of promotion athletically or theoretically could have qualified for a promotion. According to a university calculation, the probability of third place at the time was 3.4 percent.
The old season was over before it really started
In the fall, the USC was able to make six games in the new league, he won two. Then the round was canceled. Kurz is now planning the coming season. He says, “Our team will essentially stay together.”
That means: The USC will come across as strong on paper. In Max Meuter and Marc Zimmermann, two actors blare in the third division who played for a long time in the upper house. August Sigle was a fixture in the second division middle block at Bundesliga club FT 1844 Freiburg for several years. Here player-coach Kurz and Libero Philipp Frey also smashed in the Bundesliga. There is also the versatile beach volleyball player Luca Wenz. You will rarely find a similar level of quality among the competition. Speaking of competition. Due to the imponderables of the pandemic, the association changed the game system. The third division is divided into two groups of six. These compete in a round trip, the best three teams play title and relegation at the end. The USC is likely to be involved in the top.
The situation at VfR Umkirch is more uncertain. Julian Hamacher has been a trainer for the Freiburg suburb for three years. At that time he took over the volleyball players from the promotion coach Jörg Stumböck, who led the club into the regional league, stabilized it there and then formed a promotion team. Hamacher took over and continued the stabilization work of the now deceased Stumböck.
Hamacher says: “The old season was over before it really started.” When the season stopped in autumn due to the pandemic, Umkirch had placed himself in eighth place after three games. The high school teacher is cautious when he talks about the coming round. “We are curious to see if and how it will start. In any case, we are preparing normally for it.”
In terms of management, he has two particularly strong newcomers to announce: Long-time second division player Johanna Ewald is coming from Offenburg – and setter Samy Roos is returning. Hamacher is therefore confident. “The shoe is only a bit pinched in the middle,” he points out. Umkirch seems armed.
60 kilometers north of the Breisgau, Vladimir Rakic has to cope with an upheaval. The 44-year-old middle blocker once trundled through Europe as a volleyball professional before he put down roots at his last station, TV Bühl. Since this spring he has been the new coach of the third division women at VC Offenburg. He is inheriting a great deal. In the past five years Offenburg has won the championship title in the second Bundesliga three times. But because the necessary sponsors for a first division adventure were never found afterwards, the club withdrew two years ago. Since then, they have been in the third division again in Ortenau.
In last year’s coaching duo of Florian Scheuer and Richarda Zorn, two of the club’s long-running favorites have now resigned. They both represent the successes of the past few years. Scheuer held almost every position – from manager to hall spokesman – in Offenburg, Zorn was a top performer for years as a setter.
The squad planning is currently in full swing. Zorn and Scheuer are not the only ones leaving: Svenja Rodenbüsch will go to the USA on a scholarship. In terms of studies, Leonie Amann is drawn into the distance. Lisa Solleder, Franziska Fried and Isabella Herp want to slow down.
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