Fabio Soli takes charge of Team Slovenia

The Slovenian men’s volleyball national team has a new head coach. Fabio Soli, a 45-year-old renowned Italian expert, has signed a two-year contract with the Volleyball Federation of Slovenia, with the possibility of extending it for another two years.

He succeeds Romanian coach Gheorghe Cretu, who led the Slovenian men’s national team between 2022 and 2024. Fabio Soli, the new head coach, currently leads Italy’s elite team TRENTINO Itas, with Slovenia’s star player Jan Kozamernik in their roster. With TRENTINO, Soli won the prestigious CEV Champions League in the late spring of 2024. 

After a playing career spent entirely in Italy, Fabio Soli moved into coaching in the 2011/2012 season, working as an assistant coach at Casa MODENA. The following season, he moved abroad to take on the role of head coach at Fenerbahçe Grundig ISTANBUL, where he later also served as an assistant coach. His first experience with national teams came in 2014 when he joined the Italian women’s national team as an assistant coach, a position he held for two years.

In the 2014/2015 season, Soli was the head coach of Globo Banca Popolare del Frusinate SORA, and then continued in the same role with Bunge RAVENNA, Vero Volley MONZA, and Top Volley CISTERNA. In 2022 and 2023, he took on the role of head coach of the Estonian men’s national team, and in the 2023/2024 season, he took charge of the Italian top league club TRENTINO Itas, with whom he won the elite CEV Champions League title last May in Antalya, Türkiye. 

This year, Team Slovenia faces several challenges. In September, they will compete in the FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship in the Philippines, and before that, they will also participate in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL). The VNL will start for the Slovenian team with a tournament in Rio de Janeiro, where they will play alongside Cuba, the USA, Brazil, Iran, and Ukraine from June 11 to 15. Following that, there will be a tournament in Burgas, Bulgaria, with the teams of Slovenia, Bulgaria, France, Japan, Türkiye, and Ukraine. Volleyball fans in Slovenia will also have the chance to enjoy the action of their heroes on home soil, as the third tournament will be held in Ljubljana between July 16 and 22. Alongside the reigning world champions from Italy, teams from Serbia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Canada will also compete in Ljubljana.