Italy’s legendary coach surprises his athletes with thrillers and novels

From classic titles to contemporary fictions, Paola Egonu and her teammates were gifted with two titles each. Just a few days before they were to fly to Göteborg, where Italy will start their EuroVolley campaign against Croatia on Friday, coach Julio Velasco had a surprise for his players. Not a new jersey or an additional day off, but a selection of books. Two each, that he chose in person for the whole squad and he had already read himself. 

It is not the first time the Argentinean coach did such a gesture to his group of athletes, since he started this sort of “tradition” a long time ago when he coached the men’s national team. However, nowadays, when books can seem old-fashioned - and perhaps not very interesting to athletes when they are close to face an important event - the news went viral in a snap (over 7’000 likes and 338’000 views this far). 

The Italian Volleyball Federation published a video of the moment, with all the players looking very curious and happy to get such a unique gift from their coach. Some of them asked questions, while others were just speechless or genuinely happy: Velasco chose classic titles such as Allende’s House of the spirits to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and also contemporary literature such as Andre Agassi’s Open or Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend. From thriller to psychology, from fiction to history, the list is really full and diverse.

Italy’s coach added that he didn’t understand the bias about athletes who don’t like to read. His choice reflects his approach to team growth at 360° - looking beyond technical aspects, recognising reading as a tool to support curiosity, awareness, and the exchange of ideas. 

“It’s not true at all: an athlete is always described as nothing but ‘muscle’ but it’s not,” he said. 

What about the players? Ekaterina Antropova (Velasco recently changed her role from opposite hitter to outside spiker) said that ”regardless of the reasons, books are the best gifts, and they allow you to understand how the person giving them to you perceives you”. Some of her teammates were seen with the books the day Italy flew to Sweden. It’s going to be fun to know if they finish them before the end of EuroVolley and if these books become a kind of lucky charm for the team. But, in the coach’s own words, he continues to look ahead with curiosity: “The best book? The one I haven’t read just yet”.