Ilya Volodarsky: Kazan is ready to host the Universiade next year already 07.07.2010

Russian representative on the FIVB Council Ilya Volodarsky has spent a week in Kazan. It was enough for the man who beyond the shadow of a doubt can be called the Russian beach volley loco to make up his opinion both on the sports capital of Russia and on the future of Kazan beach volleyball.

- Ilya, could you please say a few words about yourself? Unquestionably you are quite a personality among volleyball lovers…

- I feel awkward to tell about myself. I was born in Moscow, studied at Math School, then did military service. What else… I graduated from the Institute, later on from another one. I did volleyball at school, I played but I didn’t achieve big success on a professional level. Yet it was always my favorite sport and hobby. At certain point I went in for beach volleyball. It was mainly for my own pleasure. I worked in the Moscow City administration and in duty bounden I supervised construction of volleyball courts in hotel and recreation complexes. Our primary goal was to involve people in playing volleyball and make them enjoy it. Then I wondered why not to start playing pro volleyball. That’s how it started. After the Olympic Games in Athens the All-Russian Volleyball Federation suffered certain changes in its structure and it started to pay more attention to beach volleyball. I was schooled by the European Tour competitions following which I left for Valencia where I worked in a major sports marketing agency. In 2005 I started to organize tournaments in Russia.

Ilya Volodarsly at opening ceremony of VII European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship

-Can you point out three brightest moments in your career?

-The crowning achievement of my life is that since 2008 we started to hold the Grand Slam tournaments. This is one of the best and prestigious events in world beach volleyball. I got involved in the Grand Slam management literally with my eyes closed not aware of the amount of work I will have to do. This is the first point. Actually we had a lot of things going on. The second point is that in 2007 when our men’s team placed second in the World Championship I went to the tournament managers’ office and asked them whether it was possible to hold the next Championship in Russia. No one expected me to have the nerve to ask that. We were competing with Norway to host the tournament. I need to say that we lost to Stavanger for a good reason. Speaking objectively we would have failed to host the World Championship in 2009. Anyway it was a good experience. Since last year we started to hold the national tour, some kind of challenge for all comers. We give amateur sportsmen a chance to get involved in the large-scale All-Russian tournament. It’s not an easy task to give practical effect to the idea that will make beach volleyball popular. Another two tournaments should be mentioned. Firstly it’s the Sochi round of the 2008 European Tour. By the way it was the first official competition in this Olympic sport in Sochi. Secondly it’s the beach volleyball competition in Kaliningrad. The Russian Baltics have a positive spirit that suits well for such an event. I hope that Kazan will be a regular host of large-scale beach volleyball tournaments.

-What’s the difference between the Moscow Grand Slam and the VII European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship? Except for the level of performance of the players of course.

- Actually what we do at the Moscow Grand Slam is to be done at the Kazan European Championship as well. We do not set up a 5,000-seat stadium, do not invite beach volleyball big shots here. Most sportsmen that arrive in Kazan haven’t achieved any serious success yet but you need to provide accommodation, catering for them, in general make their stay as comfortable as possible. You do the same with the leaders of world beach volleyball in Moscow. That means that the tournaments do not differ that much as it seems.
- In three years Kazan will host the Universiade. Could you share your opinion on the preparation of this huge sporting event?

-I hope that I don’t offend the Sochi Olympics managers but Kazan is more ready to host a large sporting event than Sochi. I mean readiness of sports venues and general emotional background, motivation of people who organize the event and volunteer’s activity. I’m more than confident that Kazan is ready to host the Universiade next year already. I don’t keep my opinion to myself. I visited both Kazan and Sochi and I have seen enough to compare. Two different poles… I don’t have any reason to lie, my opinion doesn’t depend on anyone. For instance we staged the World Championship final during the Kuban economic forum. In case you don’t know it’s a large investments forum. So speaking about the entertainment program of both tournaments Kazan was much better. It’s obvious.

-What can you say about the development of beach volleyball in Russia? For instance in 2005 Russia bought a big prefabricated beach volleyball stadium. What are other changes that happened within five years?

- When in 2005 I left for Sochi to organize my first serious tournament I was shocked a little. The fact that we had a prefabricated German-made stadium didn’t change the situation a lot. When in May I was at the Sochi beach no one from our team had a slightest idea that since 2008 we’ll be holding the Big Slam event and the duo of Barsuk/Kolodinsky will get bronze of the World Championship. Back in 2005 I wouldn’t have believed that!
I can’t say that five years ago there was no beach volleyball at all in Russia but the present situation is completely different. We built up a pyramid that is not steady yet, we need to shore its edges. At the moment we must develop the infrastructure and also regional projects. The Kazan World Tour for example.
We are here not only to help to hold the European Universities Championship. We need to establish relations with the Kazan party that manages the tournament and it’s also an important thing.

-What do we need to do so that beach volleyball was as popular in Russia as it is in the US or Brazil?

- On the one hand the weather in Russia and in Brazil is very different but on the other there are some regions in Russia where beach volleyball is bound to develop: Krasnodar region, Kaliningrad, Vladivostok… They have sea. People can play beach volleyball if not the year round but half a year for sure. We can say the same about the Volga region. The Volga river is the main artery of Russia and there are many beaches in Kazan. We’d better pay more attention to European developed countries: Germany, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands and not just focus on Brazil. The above-mentioned countries have more courts that’s why they bring up strong beach volleyball players. We also need to stage more tournaments of different level.
Surely Russia needs victories in different competitions and people should pay more attention to them. But we have to develop amateur beach volleyball as well, we need to build new courts. Why do I mention the European countries? In Germany on the site of the Berlin Wall a huge beach volleyball center has been built. A 52-court sports complex was constructed on the site of ruins. You cannot get there even on the weekdays. There are schoolchildren and students exercising till the evening, most of them have Physical Education there and after 4-5 pm office employees play beach volleyball there. Except for the courts there are cafes, a parking area, shops in the center. Just imagine: 52 courts in the heart of Berlin! The center also stages large tournaments and even 6,000-seat stands cannot hold all the volleyball lovers. Besides the complex hosts tournaments of different levels: from school competitions to amateur leagues.

-Is there any rivalry between indoor and beach volleyball? I heard one indoor player say that when you change indoor to beach it’s like you leave your wife for a lover?

- Beach volleyball is more relaxed and open. Beach volleyball players have their own lifestyle as they are not always in the same team. They travel worldwide from one tournament to another and know each other. It has something in common with tennis. Generally speaking each sportsman answers for himself. Besides beach volleyball is more emotional than indoor volleyball. I cannot say nothing specific about the wife-lover situation…It should be noted that the income level of indoor volleyball players is higher than the level of indoor ones. To earn enough a volleyball player has to work hard and achieve good results and become top-ranked. But beach volleyball players are left to themselves.
It’s difficult to make athletes who do pro volleyball change indoor to beach. The perfect thing is to combine both indoor and beach volleyball. It gives good results.

-You’ve travelled a lot in Russia and worldwide. You are in Kazan today and next day in Kaliningrad, the day after tomorrow in Europe…What does your family think about the your lifestyle?

- Surely my kids miss me but they need to understand that this is my job. My kids have summer break and I have work to do. In September my children will go back to school and my so-called vacation will begin at the and of autumn. My 13-year old daughter worked in the Grand Slam Organizing Committee. She was kind of a nuisance but she also helped. My son watched all the matches from the stands, he was emotionally supporting our teams. My kids like beach volleyball and this brings us together.

Alexey Sorokin, special correspondent of press-center
VII European Universities Beach Volleyball Championship