The Austrian Volleyball Federation (ÖVV) have recently introduced their ‘Olympic Project 2024’ to media and fans alike, with Martin Olejnak – an internationally renowned coach – due to lead the men’s programme on the way to the next Olympics in Paris.
Many strong nations have positioned themselves better and broader in recent years. Austria has a very long and rich tradition in the sport, resulting in as many as 29 medals from European and World Championships in the senior ranks as well as across all age groups over the last two decades. However, Austrian Beach Volleyball teams failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – and even though the last few years included a number of highlights, there was an obvious lack of consistency. Austria failed to punch a ticket to Tokyo through the FIVB World Ranking as well as via the Continental Cup. Bad luck combined with injuries was also the reason for missing the set goals.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the ÖVV has made great efforts to provide its athletes with the best training conditions and match practice even under difficult conditions – e.g. through the HYPO NÖ Beach Volleyball Champions Cup, without achieving the desired result.
Therefore, after a comprehensive evaluation of the situation in the summer of 2021, the organisation has drawn up a timetable to change things in the lead-up to Paris 2024. This included the search of new head coaches – with appointments made by a decision-making committee after a series of interviews.
“Our clear goal as an association is to be represented again at the Summer Games in Paris. The international competition is fierce, but with the right environment, we are confident that our national teams can master this difficult task. I am convinced that with Martin Olejnak and Martin Plessl as head coaches we have found the right leaders for this task.”
Gernot Leitner
ÖVV President
Martin Olejnak, a top coach of international calibre, will be at the helm of the men’s teams. Born in Slovakia, he started his coaching career in Austria at hotVolleys in Vienna in the 1990s. He helped Robert Nowotny/Peter Gartmayer and the Schwaiger Sisters – twice – in their successful attempts to qualify for the Olympic Games. In Poland, Olejnak helped set up a successful support system before he became national coach of the German Beach Volleyball men’s team for four years, leading Julius Thole/Clemens Wickler to World Championship silver in 2019 and fifth place in Tokyo.
In order to be able to offer the ÖVV national teams as individual training as possible, the Federation has hired young coach Georgios Kotsilianos as well. The former Greek player was able to gain a lot of experience in looking after talents and top teams in Klagenfurt. Xandi Huber and Christoph Dressler made it into the top 10 at last year’s EuroBeachVolley and more recently claimed a bronze medal from a 4-Star World Tour event held in Itapema, Brazil.
Martin Plessl will continue to look after the women’s teams. He presented the best overall concept for the further development of the top Austrian players and he continues to enjoy the full trust of the ÖVV management.
Florian Schabbauer, ÖVV Sports Director Beach Volleyball: “We are starting our national team project at the base in Vienna with a very good mix of young and established players. While the teams Ermacora/Pristauz, Seidl/Waller and Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig are addressing the goal of ‘Olympic qualification 2024’, Horst/Hörl also want to position themselves in contention for a spot at Paris 2024. In addition, we are supervising another two teams with good perspectives for the future, which we would like to lead to a successful qualification for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.”
“I am really looking forward to the new tasks. I am confident that everyone in the coaching staff will do the best they can in close cooperation with all partners in order to be able to achieve these ambitious goals.”
Martin Olejnak
Head coach of Austria men’s teams
Austrian Beach Volleyball legend Clemens Doppler will share his decades of experience as one of the world’s best and most successful Beach Volleyball players, working as a mentor or trainer for elite and junior teams as well. In addition, the very successful former player Sara Montagnolli, a European silver medallist in 2011, will mentor the women’s teams. She will pass on her experience to the top ÖVV teams at courses and competitions.
The following duos will be working with the ÖVV coaching staff at the base in Vienna:
Women: Katharina Schützenhöfer/Lena Plesiutschnig, Dorina Klinger/Ronja Klinger
Men: Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz, Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller, Alexander Horst/Julian Hörl, Laurenz Leitner/Paul Pascariuc. Christoph Dressler/Alexander Huber are part of the group as well but they will be training mainly in Klagenfurt.
