Volleyball, Bosetti pride of Novara: “We don’t want to stop in the Champions League”

The best is yet to come, Ligabue sang in 2011. This also applies to Caterina Bosetti and her Igor Gorgonzola Novara, which has reached the crucial stage of the season with the possibility of achieving great goals. Fifth place in the standings (“But the playoffs make their own story”) and Champions League semifinals (the only Italian among the 4) for the Piedmontese team that has one of her strengths in Caterina. And number 9, born in 1994, is responding with champion figures. In fact, he is in the top 5 of the season both for receptions made and for the number of aces scored: “I hope to continue on this line because from now on you need to know how to make a difference. I look relatively at the statistics because I think they don’t perfectly evaluate an athlete with my characteristics. I think I give more than the cold numbers say, both in training and in the match.”

How do you judge the Novara vintage so far?
“We still have two competitions to experience as protagonists. We certainly don’t want to stop now. I was sorry not to reach the Italian Cup final and to have had a few too many ups and downs”.

“The lower-tier teams have become more competitive and the players of the top teams never stop, between club and national team: the body obviously suffers at a certain point”.

How much did the forced renunciation of Jordyn Poulter weigh on these ups and downs?
“It is useless to deny it: his absence was felt. With Jordyn it would have been another season. Battistoni and Cambi are replacing it at best. But Poulter’s resume speaks for itself.”

Despite everything you have already taken away some satisfactions.

“Beating a team like Vakifbank, world champions, is never easy. We did it, in the second leg of the Champions League group. And now we are the only Italian team in the semifinals”.

Even the only non-Turkish team. What matches are you expecting against Eczacibasi?
“When we play in Istanbul, the atmosphere will certainly be warm. I played one year in Türkiye, at Galatasaray. Realities like the one I experienced or Fenerbahçe are sports clubs with strong political ties. Their supporters support an ideal, even before a specific team. I believe that with Eczacıbaşı instead we will find only a volleyball fan”.

The recent earthquake in that country touched her personally.
“My sister Lucia plays for Çukurova. In those days mom and dad had gone to see her. After knowing they were fine, my only thought was to get them back to Italy as fast as possible. At almost seventy, they were in the middle of the road for hours with a backpack on their shoulders and on a minibus with no heating: I wasn’t calm at all”.

In addition to Galatasaray he also had an experience in Brazil.
“I was very young but it wasn’t such a complex choice, professionally speaking. Osasco was one of the strongest teams in the world, full of Brazilian internationals. Humanly speaking, however, it wasn’t easy: a month before my departure, mum had felt unwell. So the beginning was very complicated”.

Returning to Novara, on the other hand, what was the decision?
“When I received the proposal, I immediately knew it would be the right choice. I wanted to play in a team that aspired to win. In my heart, I knew this was where I belonged. I wanted to prove that I was worth a big one ”.

And he’s succeeding, with the club and with the national team: a busy summer awaits him in the blue shirt.
“I don’t know yet what coach Davide Mazzanti’s choices will be. He will certainly lean towards rotations between the Nations League, European Championships and Olympic qualifiers. It is inevitable because the body also needs rest to perform at its best”.

Will he find Paola Egonu again, first as a companion and then as an opponent?
“Milan has strengthened itself with its purchase. There are no doubts. We will have to work even harder to win in Italy. Everything else is of little importance to me. It is right that Paola makes her choices in complete autonomy ”.

Where did your choice to wear the number 9 shirt come from?
“Initially I liked the number 7, a number also used by mothers in their careers. But at Amatori Orago, my first team, it was worn by the president’s daughter. I took the 9 which has accompanied me throughout my career. Only in the experience with Villa Cortese did I switch to 14 (in honor of Leo Lo Bianco) because 9 belonged to Manuela Secolo”.

Is she superstitious?
“I was. Almost pathological. After the injury I abandoned everything because obviously those habits hadn’t brought me luck. Now I have my own routine which consists of eating what makes me feel good and going to bed early before a game. But nothing more”.

Dreams in the drawer?
“I would like to give my best in volleyball for a couple more years, winning an Olympic medal. But we will evaluate when the time comes. At that point I think my life choices will be less related to volleyball and more to personal aspects. I will be of the right age to build a family and become a mother”.