The Volleyball DNA: Davide Gardini
Editorial
It might be difficult not following a career in volleyball when your father was part of the winningest generation of the sport in a country that loves it as much as Italy, but Davide Gardini certainly tried it. He gave football a try, but at some point, his heritage came calling and he accepted his future was with volleyball.
Davide is the son of the legendary Italian middle blocker Andrea Gardini, one of the best in his position in the history of the sport and a member of the country’s team that dominated the international scene in the 1990s, winning three world and European titles and medals in back-to-back editions of the Olympics – silver in Atlanta 1996 and bronze in Sydney 2000.
Born in 1999, Davide was too young when his father retired, in 2004, but the memories of his victorious career and the feelings he had following him as he got into coaching still influenced, in some capacity, his decision to play volleyball.
Davide Gardini“I was too young when my father was playing, so I don’t remember much but I’ve watched DVDs and it was always fun to watch him play. When I decided to play volleyball, it was my decision. My parents were glad, obviously, and my dad was really happy but they never pushed me.”
Italian Volleyball Player
Davide chose a different position than his father, electing to play as an outside hitter, and his path in the sport has been different too. While Andrea spent his entire playing career in Italy and is yet to coach outside of Europe, the 22-year-old Davide is currently in his final season of college volleyball at the Brigham Young University, in the United States.
He has, however, already felt the same pride his old man did a few decades ago when wearing the Italian national team jersey. Davide was part of the team that took silver at the 2019 U21 World Championships and appeared in a few matches in this year’s Volleyball Nations League.
For those who grew watching the formidable team that dominated the world three decades ago, it might have been nice to see the name “Gardini” written over the number one of an Italian jersey again.
Davide Gardini“I am proud to be my father's son. It is an important part of my life but I hope to be remembered as Davide in the future because when I play, it is me, Davide Gardini who tries everything I can to play a good match.”
Italian Volleyball Player
Volleyball is a true family sport. Not only because of the friendly environment found in indoor and beach tournaments around the world, but also due to the simplicity of the game, which allows people of all ages and physical abilities to play it. It’s also a captivating sport and because of that it happens often that several generations of a same family fall in love with it. Every once in a while, we can see those family connections at the professional level and that’s exactly what we’re going to show in our series ‘The Volleyball DNA’.