Halkbank’s ‘team behind the team’ all focussed on seizing #CEVChallengeCupM trophy

There is a team behind the team in Ankara supporting Halkbank’s mission to seize this year’s CEV Challenge Cup title. They all share the same excitement ahead of the return match with NARBONNE Volley following the 3-0 victory claimed by their side on home soil last week. These people are the heroes behind the scenes and they all share the same wish to take the trophy back to Ankara. They have been working hard all season long in order to fulfil this ambitious goal.

“We have a past in Europe that we can proudly talk about. It makes me happy to have the chance to become a champion. I always love to be in the final stages and I try to enjoy these moments as much as possible. These are valuable and important experiences for young coaches like myself. The Ankara audience, who did not leave us alone and supported us wholeheartedly in the first match, will not be in France, but we will always feel their support by our side. I believe that we will win the first trophy of the season and add it to our museum by winning a well-deserved championship befitting the Halkbank family, our past and our fans,” said first assistant coach Burak Emre Dirier.

“Together with our technical staff and players, we have become the most energetic, systematic team that many have seen recently. Everybody knows what he is doing, plays with an idea during trainings and competitions, never gives up, fights until the last point and produces solutions, and has a winning culture. Of course, our motivation, our source of strength, is the feeling of winning championships and trophies for our club. We are currently holding one end of the CEV Challenge Cup trophy. We want to win the final, which we reached undefeated, and become an undefeated champion,” adds assistant coach Alper Burak.

“On the way to the CEV Challenge Cup, under the management of our head coach Taner Atik, both our staff and our players made great efforts. Now it is time to lift the trophy. We trust each other. I believe with all my heart that we will become champion and return to Ankara with this trophy that we deserve,” adds field coach Metin Razbonyali.

“Dreams are there to make them come true. We had a dream too and there is one last step, one last match left to realise it. The whole team has worked very hard to reach the trophy. We have shown that we are more than a sports club and now we want to crown it with a gold medal,” says statistician Ali Riza Metin.

“We are reaping the fruits of a long period of preparation and development, and the most influential factor in this process is that our players and staff share every emotion. This final is our dream and one of our goals. We want to return to our country with the pride and happiness of getting what is rightfully ours,” comments trainer Mahir Emre Can.

“From the beginning of the season to this time, all our work and planning was to play the final. We have finally reached this stage. It is a very important opportunity for our club and our personal career. We will do our best to seize this opportunity. We are hopeful and faithful, we trust our team,” says trainer Erencan Kütük.

“As a team, I think that all the players and staff have done their best since the beginning of the season. When you combine this personal dedication and teamwork with team spirit, an undefeated team emerges. We are all very pleased with the result we have achieved so far and we want to crown our success by winning the trophy in France,” says Dr Omer Serkan Kara.

“Finals are always exciting. We live for these amazing moments. Our biggest dream right now is to win the second and last match and bring the trophy to our country to enrich our museum,” says physiotherapist Baran Akay.

“We are the only Turkish team to play in the finals of all three European cups. Our players will be on stage with this awareness. We showed how much we wanted the trophy with the 3-0 score we got in the match in Ankara and we have the psychological advantage. We go to France to get the trophy,” concludes masseur Eren Toker.