Gentle giant Jan Štokr quietly announces retirement

The undoubtedly best Czech Volleyball player of the last decade, Jan Štokr, has ended his competitive career at the age of 38 – doing so in a very quiet and low profile manner, just as we know the 206 cm tall opposite hitter.  

“I will not organise a press conference to announce my retirement. Do not take that as disrespect for the fans, as I have always appreciated their support,” says Jan, who achieved much success in Italy and internationally as well especially while wearing the shirt of TRENTINO Volley.

This is where the very shy and rather introvert Jan became some sort of a celebrity. “As soon as I hit the streets, everyone wanted to take pictures with me,” recalls the 2011 CEV Champions League gold medallist, three-time club world champion and two-time winner of the Italian national league. “Right now, I am working extremely hard at home. My wife is a teacher, she started going to school, so everything is up to me,” admits Jan with a laugh.

“My career exceeded my expectations about a thousand times and I did not expect to make a living from sports for twenty years. I do not suffer from nostalgia. Unfortunately, I did not win anything big with the national team, other than the 2005 edition of the European League where we beat Russia in the gold medal match. I also cherish the tenth place we took at the 2010 World Championship in Italy. It was a key year for me,” Jan continues.

“That year my son was born and after that we finished tenth at the World Championship. In addition, I got into one of the best teams on the planet – TRENTINO Volley. That is when it all started. Volleyball was hugely popular in the city. When I won the Champions League, people in the Czech Republic also started to get to know me, but you could not compare this to the status we had in Italy. I remember going with a Czech traveller to a holiday in Sicily. The other participants of the tour did not understand why people were taking pictures of me. Waiters and chefs came to see me during dinner. In Trento, I simply enjoyed the popularity of footballers in our country,” he recalls.

The rather shy and introvert Jan – something which collides with his truly imposing figure – has had a hard time to explain his decision to retire from competitive sport. “I had a nice twenty-year career. Now it is time for the next step. I am glad to say goodbye relatively at the top, until I was able to show decent performances. In the last match in Prague, I played and got a medal after it. It was such a nice end to my career.”

He feels like the future of Volleyball in the Czech Republic looks bright. “Our youth and junior national teams are doing well and have won medals at international events. The problem is how to incorporate talented boys into the elite national league. The coaches must show courage to do so; on the other hand, young players must earn their trust.”

As for the future, Jan may remain close to Volleyball, at least one or the other way. “I always gave my best to Volleyball. If I had done it halfway, I would not have enjoyed it as much as I did. I will definitely continue to play for fun and maybe I will get involved later. Over time, I may appear somewhere with young people. There you can see enthusiasm and immediate improvement, whilst I probably do not have the skills required for a managerial role.”

That says it all. Despite all of his successes, such a muscle-bound man remains shy, down-to-earth and true to himself.