Marcio Sicoli, who was instrumental in getting Kerri Walsh Jennings back on the beach following offseason surgery has signed on to help the three-time Olympic Gold Medalist with her event series venture, P1440.
Sicoli will act as Director of Beach Volleyball Development with assistance from Jonathan Daze, p1440 announced Tuesday.
Sicoli, who is set to take over as Pepperdine head coach with the retirement of Nina Matthies, will be responsible for developing P1440 methodology, organizing drills and skills training for players and fans, creating webinars for the community’s website and developing the coaches’ manual and certification.
Daze will be responsible for assisting Sicoli in coaching p1440 sponsored players at the various coaching centers, selecting p1440 developmental sponsored athletes and organizing matches between developmental teams.
“I’m excited to be part of the p1440 team and the future of beach volleyball,” Sicoli said. “p1440 is an opportunity for beach volleyball to finally be where it should be—an elite level of not just sport, but performance, education and entertainment. We have a lot of work to do but with a motivated and ambitious team, I know we will change the face of beach volleyball.”
Sicoli comes to p1440 with many years of beach volleyball coaching experience, including 10 years at Pepperdine, five as an assistant coach with the beach program. He was the assistant coach for the Brazilian Olympic women’s beach volleyball team from 2000-2004. He then coached Walsh Jennings in back-to-back Olympic games in 2012 with Misty May-Treanor in 2012 and April Ross in 2016. Sicoli received his Bachelors of Physical Education from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, holding specializations in sports training and coaching.
Daze brings more than 17 years of coaching experience to p1440 from the professional, collegiate, club and high school levels, making him the perfect fit to coach the elite and developmental p1440 sponsored teams, the announcement said.
Daze and Sicoli have previously collaborated in training Walsh Jennings and Ross for the 2016 Olympics. Following the 2016 Olympics, Daze became the head coach for Ross and partner, Lauren Fendrick, coaching them to win the silver medal at the World Championships in Vienna, Austria.
“I’m thrilled and grateful to become a member of p1440 and work towards growing and developing the sport of beach volleyball,” Daze said. “A big thank you to Marcio Sicoli, and the p1440 founders—Kerri Walsh Jennings, Casey Jennings, Dave Mays and Kasia Mays for their vision to elevate our amazing sport. It’s an exciting time and I’m very much looking forward to what the future brings with p1440!”
Walsh Jennings pointed out the personal and professional qualities that the pair bring to p1440.
“Marcio Sicoli and Jonathan Daze are a perfect fit for the p1440 coaching staff,” Walsh Jennings said. “The chemistry that Marcio and Jon have will bring a strong optimism to the professional and developmental side of the p1440 event series. We are so excited to welcome Marcio and Jon to our team!”
P1440, a hybrid concert, health and wellness and competition event series, is slated for four dates in 2018 beginning in San Jose, California, on September 28-30.
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