Volleyball, Reggio Emilia between the promotion party and the doubt Superlega. Bertaccini: “We will have the strength”

The last time there was still the lira and the Italy of volleyball had won only one of the three World Cups won. Jan Held and Andrea Brogioni played, with Ljubo Travica on the bench. Almost thirty years have passed and Reggio Emilia is back in the top flight: at the time it was called A1, now Superlega but it changes little or nothing, the victory obtained in Race-4 against Cuneo launches the Emilian team into the Olympus of volleyball. “The key to our success? Peace of mind” sums up the president Giulio Bertaccini, one who does not like the spotlight and who has decided not to give interviews throughout the season. “I have been in this club for more than thirty years, it was right that others would take all the attention. Because ours is really the victory of the group, of the great professionals who are at the top of the club but also of the many volunteers without whom we could go on. ” Now Bertaccini can speak of a “historic moment, an unthinkable result”. In August the goal was to finish in the top four, then came the success in the Italian Cup and expectations increased. “We had beaten all the most accredited opponents, from that moment it was understood that we could also have crossed an incredible finish line”. All without any pressure. “We didn’t have to win, others did. This has been our strength, together with a group that has grown game after game overcoming many difficulties.”

Word of Mastrangelo

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Those difficulties that the coach Vincenzo Mastrangelo does not even want to mention. “We never looked for alibis, even when we could have afforded it, this was the winning mentality”. He who was in the third final promotion but had lost the first two. “It seemed like a curse, but now I’m enjoying ten months of very intense work. We were the first to gather, on August 3, and compared to our opponents I took away two weeks of vacation from the boys. But there was no long snout. , from there I began to understand that there was the right basis to do something good “. Even if at the start his team had to do without one of the main references, that Diego Cantagalli, son of Luca “bazooka”, stopped by a physical problem that kept him away from the fields for a few months. “Our strength has been to be a real team and this makes me extremely proud. We changed the protagonists but not our philosophy that led us to the promotion. The two opposites got injured and we changed the scheme by playing with three spikers but this has never limited us “. He then he mentions the Italian cup. “From that moment on I thought we could do something incredible; I even said it at the office and someone laughed. But we had managed to overcome a period with many Covid problems and in 20 days we found ourselves playing. even some league recoveries. Yet we never got back an inch because mentally we were a strong team “.

The surprise Held

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The group was fundamental, but there were also some surprises on an individual level. “If I have to name one then I choose Tim Held, son of Jan. He arrived from A3 with the lights off, when Marretta had some problems he entered and became one of the drivers together with Cominetti and our director Garnica. The promotion is thanks to the team. , but I’m proud to have launched a player who can lead the way. ” And while enjoying the promotion, Mastrangelo can devote himself to his other great passion: classical music. In a family of musicians, with his brother and cousins ​​who do it by profession, he plays the violin at ceremonies with his studies at the Conservatory behind him. “What kind of music do I compare our company to? It’s hard to say, we started with a slow rhythm and then ended with a lively allegro”. And his philosophy on volleyball says it all: “I was overwhelmed by volleyball in Gioia del Colle; it allows me not to work because for me it remains a great passion”.

Superalloy unknown

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In the meantime, we are already thinking about the future, about a facility not currently suitable for the Super League and the first rumors that begin to circulate, about a possible entry of Luca Cantagalli into the company but also about some club that starts knocking asking to buy the rights. “We have not finished celebrating yet – explains President Bertaccini – and as an old friend of mine used to say:” Ice in your head, then we will think about what to do “. Now we will meet and evaluate everything that can happen, we will do it together as always”. . There are difficulties, but the number one from Reggio ends with a meaningful sentence. “In my opinion we could have the strength to join the Super League”.