Gold in the Supercup, silver in the cup and bronze in the championship: All Paletti at the volleyball Bundesliga club Dresdner SC. At least you could think so. But peace, joy and pancakes don’t reign behind the scenes of the successful volleyball club. Trainer Alexander Waibl, trainer at DSC since 2009, draws attention to the problems during the fan festival on Tuesday evening (April 26th, 2022) and questions titles on the assembly line as recently.
“Of course, the goal is always to win titles, but Stuttgart has twice as much ahead of us financially, teams like Potsdam are also catching up, Schwerin is always a bit ahead of us anyway. If we don’t make it, here in the city Changing structures for the DSC in such a way that we get a reasonable venue and significantly increase our budgets, then we won’t win anything in the foreseeable future,” the 53-year-old makes clear.
Janiska – the “decisive player” remains
It was certainly also due to the lack of funds that Maja Storck left the DSC. “We would have liked to keep them,” affirmed Waibl, although there is much more money to be made in other European leagues. The coach is all the happier about Jennifer Janiska’s contract extension until 2024. “She is our key player. We are very grateful that she is staying,” Waibl told MDR. The 28-year-old has led the team from within for the past two years. She is responsible for the culture of the DSC and also bears responsibility in the most difficult situations. Waibl: “Just a real professional guy.”
“I like the role of mother”
At 28, Janiska is already the oldie in the team. “I feel very comfortable in the team with many young players. I really like the role of mother,” laughs the outside attacker, who has been playing in Dresden since 2020 and is particularly enthusiastic about the family environment. “It’s good for me and made me sign here again.” In the new season, Janiska will again be a role model for up-and-coming talent. The DSC is continuing on the path of establishing its own offspring in the first team.
“You don’t win titles with youngsters alone”
Seven players leave the club – with the exception of Storck – they had to go. “In volleyball, six to seven players are exchanged. We wanted to keep Maja Stock, but the other players are in competition with our junior players, for whom we had to make room,” explains Waibl adds: “In some places, the price-performance ratio is no longer right because we don’t have a pot that grows every year.” With every contract extension that you make, the salary usually does not decrease.
The DSC is fortunate to have had strong and successful offspring for years. “We currently have a very good talent base and try to build up young players in top positions over three years. But we will not be able to avoid playing with experienced top performers. You don’t win titles only with young people,” the trainer fox becomes clear.
Good conversations on the subject of venues
The fact that there is movement in the hall theme is positive. DSC Managing Director Sandra Zimmermann: “We are in good talks. There is a planning order for the DSC venue. A corresponding city council decision has been made.” According to Zimmermann, DSC can justifiably claim to have delivered in the last decade. Specifically, there are eleven titles that the women from the Elbe city have won in the 13 years that Alexander Waibl has been coaching the team. This alone should provide enough support for the DSC to find framework conditions that are worthy of a Champions League participant and multiple German champion, believes Zimmermann – and he is not the only one with this opinion.
Sanny Stephan