Newly appointed head coach of Team Latvia aiming high
News
This past Friday, Latvia’s Volleyball fans as well as media had the opportunity to familiarise with the newly appointed head coach of the men’s national team, Michal Mieszko Gogol. The Polish native, only 38 years of age, was a member of the coaching staff that helped Poland claim gold at the 2018 FIVB Men’s World Championship. The former coach of the Latvian national team, Estonian specialist Avo Keel, was at the helm of the group until the end of 2021. Under his tenure, Team Latvia qualified for EuroVolley for the first time since 1995, finishing the competition in 16th place, after historically making it through the pool stage.
The President of the Latvian Volleyball Federation, Mr Janis Buks once again said that Latvia is currently experiencing a renaissance of Volleyball and that attracting a Polish specialist is the next step forward. “The final stage of the European Championship, which we reached last year after a break of 26 years, is only the first step and we are not going to stop with it. The plans are more ambitious. We want not only for Volleyball to be among the three most popular sports in Latvia, but also for Latvia to be among the top teams in Europe. We understand that we still have many steps to take, and that is not a matter of three or four years. We are ready for long-term development, and the next step is the new head coach of the national team. I have sat at the same table with many people, but now I am really proud to be at the same table with the Polish coach of the 2018 world champions,” Buks said.
“I am happy that the Latvian Volleyball Federation has shown so much trust in me. This is a very big challenge. Together we will create the future. I did not understand what the President of the LVF said in his speech, but I understood the phrase ‘Volleyball renaissance’. I believe that with hard work as of spring we can achieve it,” said Gogol about the work in the national team, adding that he may look young, but he has been coaching for 13 years already.
“I am hungry. The players feel the same, and they are confident that the best is yet to come. This is why we belong together, and how it will manifest, we will see it over the coming months,”
he added, emphasising that he wants to coach the Latvian team because it is a challenge, shared together with ambitious people.
Gogol, who is currently not working in any club, has started with great enthusiasm, having already managed to review the games of the Latvian national team from last year’s European Golden League and EuroVolley, as well as to contact 15 to 16 national team players. He points out that now there are good pre-conditions for Latvia to become a solid European team: “The moment is good, as the players are in good European clubs. It seems to me that the next few years should be even better, because firstly, they can achieve further progress in their own clubs, and secondly, they will play regularly in those clubs.”
He also noted that Latvia is not far from Poland. In addition, his father, Zdzislaw Gogol was the coach of the Polish national team at the 2005 Youth European Championship held in Riga, where Poland earned their first title in that age group.
“This is the first team where there are no players older than me! The good thing is that they want to play for the national team, which is not always common in other teams. It is important that they want to be in the Latvian national team and defend its colours.”
Further work will include an agreement with the federation on people who will help Gogol. The Polish specialist revealed that he would like to see two people from Poland, one of whom is a physical fitness coach, but he would also like to have a Latvian colleague as well, who could follow up on the Credit24 Baltic League and keep notes on each player.
“I will have to adapt my Volleyball philosophy to the Latvian national team, because different teams do not respond in the same way to the same mind-set,” said the coach, who is looking for different strengths of each player. The team needs a stable side-out. In Tallinn, Latvia defeated Estonia in the first set with an attack efficiency of only 20%! To improve this, the quality of passes, the reduction of errors, and the mentality all have to change for the better. “I think we can take a step forward in this area. It is a process of believing that we can change it.”
Latvian national team coordinator Arturs Vitkovskis added: “We have identified this coach with the help of European federations and agents. Initially, there were 12 coaches, from which we shortlisted, in our opinion, the three best ones.”
Gogol is open to any kind of cooperation. He recalls that in Poland, too, the head coaches of the men’s national team have been foreigners for more than 15 years, but this has only helped them gain new knowledge. “The role of the national team coach is not just about results. This is also my responsibility in Latvia. My door is always open to any coach. I am always ready so that the Latvian coaches are present and watching us work. Everyone is invited to participate in our trainings,” Gogol said, believing that by the end of August, “ours will be a team we will be proud of.”
The Latvian national team will play in the European Golden League in May and June of 2022, with the EuroVolley 2023 qualifiers following then in August.