Beach volleyball coach Jürgen Wagner is leaving the DVV. He led Brink/Reckermann and Ludwig/Walkenhorst to Olympic gold. Now there is trouble with the association.
Two days after the end of the European Championships in Munich, Wagner cited the release of the previous sports director Nico Hildebrand in mid-July on the “volleyball.de” portal as the reason for his withdrawal.
Wagner criticizes the release of Nico Hildebrand
“In the last few months, I have become more and more convinced that support for the high-performance area of beach volleyball is not the focus of the DVV.”, he criticized in his statement. By releasing Hildebrand, he sees no possibility of realizing high goals. From his point of view, Hildebrand did an excellent job, “The separation is incomprehensible and a clear weakening of our sport”.
The 42-year-old Hildebrand was released from his duties a little more than five weeks ago by the DVV board. A reason has not yet been given, and a successor has not yet been named.
Concept developed for the 2024 Olympics – Ludwig: “Bitter”
Wagner had worked out a concept for the 2024 Olympics in Paris with Hildebrand and had been Head of Beach Volleyball since September 2020. He was supposed to develop a unified philosophy and structures and worked at the Olympic base in Hamburg, where some top German couples train.
“If he is lost to the sport, it would be bitter”Laura Ludwig said a few weeks ago. “He brings a lot of know-how, has experienced a lot, a lot of experience.” Whether he will continue to be involved and – if so – in which area of high-performance sport, “I will decide in the next few months”said Wagner.