Snow King, Michal Matyja Returns From Short-Lived Retirement

  0 Carly DeMarque | March 13th, 2017 | News

After the 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour stop in Spindleruv Mlyn, Michal Matyja, a renowned Polish player had announced his retirement.

But, Matyja will be playing at the Disentis stop this weekend.

In the 2016 season the Snow Volleyball European Tour came under the CEV’s reign, where Matyja made a name for himself as one of the most prominent athletes in the sport. In all three stops on the 2016 Tour, he was able to collect the most individual points for the season among all male players and was announced as the first CEV King of the Snow.

He started the 2017 season with a bronze medal at the first official international snow volleyball competition outside of Europe – Dizin, Iran. Matyja has made just one appearance in the 2017 CEV European Tour in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czechia, where he took home a silver medal.

Matyja currently sits at #1 in the individual CEV Snow Volleyball Rankings. He and partner Piotr Janiak have been registered for all events on the Tour, why the announcement of his retirement had come as a shock to most. In a Facebook post, where he announced the end of his snow volleyball career, he explained that he is calling it quits because he was unable to find sponsorship this season.

Just weeks later, Matyja reversed his retirement, with the reasoning being – he found a sponsor.

“I am so glad I found a sponsor, and we will be able to take part in the rest of the tournaments,” said Matyja. “I would like to thank Mr. Radek Siuda and his real estate company for that! I am very excited to play in Switzerland this weekend, especially considering what beautiful views await us there.”

For the Switzerland tournament, Matyja will be pairing up with Macij Kilmas, as Janiak has to skip the tournament due to family reasons. Matyja and Janiak hope to remain a duo the remainder of the season. Kilmas and Matyja will be named to top-seeded squad in the men’s competition. The event will take place on March 11 and 12, as the fourth stop of the 2017 CEV Snow Volleyball European Tour.

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About Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque

Carly DeMarque has been involved with competitive volleyball for the majority of her life, playing competitively at the club and collegiate level for 15 years and coaching club for five. Now a retired Division I volleyball athlete out of McNeese State University, she continues her volleyball enthusiasm by stepping back into …

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