Considering that Belarus’ senior team is ranked 22nd, and its U20 team is ranked 30th in the European continent, it’s safe to say that its 8th-place finish at this year’s CEV U20 EuroVolley was an over-achievement. Regardless, the team’s coach, Oleg Mikanovich, did not savor the moment to celebrate the result, but to expose what he thinks are the biggest flaws in his country’s sporting system:
“The opponents with whom we had to play at this championship were already very well technically trained and powerful for their age. They are already playing not in children’s volleyball, but in men’s. They are far superior to us, both technically and tactically. Players listen and hear the commands given by the coaching staff and clearly perform them. It does not matter if they lose or win, they still hold certain tactical schemes. They always fight to the end, without lowering their heads, confidently. In the realities of sports development in our country, our teams of this age, this does not happen. Therefore, when first meeting with European volleyball players, our players look at them as aliens, they find it difficult to tune in to the game, adhere to the game plan.
This is a gap in the Belarusian system of sporting education, when from childhood the athletes do not develop. There is no understanding of the game, chaos in the head. Since childhood, we destroy our volleyball players. We say to them: “Come on, come on!”, and use the method of the whip. By the age of 18, it becomes clear that they have not been submitted to adequate training. They come to play at the European Championship caged, thinking “what will the coach say if we make a mistake,” waiting for that same kind of coach to scold them. They have no inner self-confidence as players. Our children do not have the psychology of winners, to play volleyball and enjoy it.
Take for example the Italians, to whom we lost on the last day: they were leaders of the championship, and expected to play for gold. It did not work, and they played with us for the 7th spot. Yes, it did not work, but they still continued to play to the last minute, no matter what. We, in the other hand, after every lost point only expressed frustration and panic. In critical situations, we do not take the initiative, we do nothing ourselves. We are always waiting for help. You need to go to a different mindset: until I do it myself, no one will help me. By the way, this is true is for both the coach and the player.”
Milankovich, only 42-years-old, and a former indoor and beach player, brings forth some good points, specially when it comes to coach-player relationships. The “whip method” as he calls it, aside from being highly unethical, does not stand a chance against modern pedagogical frameworks used to coach and develop the best players in the world, as scientific studies have already proven. A former national teamer for his country, how much will he be able to change in the future? His recent 8th place with the team is a good indicator of things to come.
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