Volleyball
Rising star Chinenyeze recounts Italian move, set sights on Olympic qualifier
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Article Fri, Nov 22 2019
Paris, France, November 22, 2019. After spending the last season in Tours, securing the national league and national cup crowns as well as the MVP award from the League A, French rising star Barthélémy Chinenyeze (pictured, #21) decided to go for a change, moving to Italy to join the ranks of Tonno Callipo Calabria VIBO VALENTIA. Last week, Chinenyeze celebrated his first victory in the elite Superleague, but he already looks forward to the Olympic qualifier that he will contest in early January in Berlin with Team France.
“I am very happy with this first win; in addition to that, we stormed to a 3-0 victory against a top team such as Calzedonia VERONA. It is nice, it was important to win this first game to start our season. We had much motivation to fight, which we had probably missed in the previous matches. It all worked very well, because all the players shared this attitude,” he says. “We also respected the game plan we had developed to stop Stephen Boyer. We knew that he is their major star and that if we managed to stop him or slow his spikes, things would have been easier for us.”
Chinenyeze explains his decision to move to Italy: “I was coming out of an incredible season with TOURS VB. We won everything and I was the MVP of the league too. Therefore, I found that I needed other challenges; I wanted to see something else, and to rub my shoulders against some of the best players. Therefore, I chose Italy, which has now the best championship in the world.”
French fans supporting Les Bleus at EuroVolley 2019
“More specifically, the project of VIBO VALENTIA was interesting, since they took a lot of young players who wanted to prove themselves alongside more experienced ones; therefore, I thought it was good for me. In addition, as Swan (Ngapeth) and Timothée (Carle) also signed for that club, I was not going to be too out of place, so I thought it was the right choice to get started. I did not want to start straight from a ‘big’ club,” he continues. “It is a kind of a stepping stone. I want to show that I have the level to play in this championship and then try to move to bigger clubs next season.”
Barthélémy seems to have found what he was after: “Yes, there is a high level, very strong teams, big players who have been here for ten years and perform every season. I was expecting that. It is the best international level, with teams that include six or seven players of the best volleyball nations, the same players whom I meet in the summer with the national team. It is very physical, we do a lot of video scouting, it is not easy, but I like it, because you have to be thorough all the time.”
Chinenyeze is adjusting to life in Italy at a fast pace: “I live in a very small town, there are not too many things to do except Volleyball; it has changed a bit from my previous clubs, even Tours, which was a bigger city. In addition to that, with Timothée, we live in a residence twenty minutes from the city, in the countryside. I was very well received, we get along well between players and I learn the language, I already understand a lot of things, and I manage to speak a little.”
Chinenyeze (#21) portrayed together with superstar Earvin Ngapeth during the match with Italy at EuroVolley 2019
Barthélémy had an incredibly busy summer with the French national team, including a highly successful EuroVolley: “What good times! Whether in Montpellier, Nantes or Paris, it was exceptional to play at home and it was amazing to see so many people coming out to support us. I still often remember the mood and review videos; it was beautiful. Afterwards, there is inevitably the disappointment of not having won a medal, because it was such a unique opportunity to do it at home in Bercy in front of more than 10,000 people. We think we could have done better, but that is it. Now we shall focus on the Olympic qualifier in January. We know that it is going to be very tough and we will have to play every game like a final and give it all; we will not have any other option, because this is our last chance to go to the Olympics.”
Four years ago, France qualified for the Olympics in Rio, but Barthélémy was still too young to be a member of that group. “I remember that during the Games I was at the Centre National de Volley-Ball. We watched the Olympics with my colleagues, we dreamed of being there one day, but I did not imagine that it would go so fast for me, that I would play qualifiers for the Olympics, a World Championship, and a European Championship at home. Now, we ‘only’ have to qualify for Tokyo 2020.”
“I am very happy with this first win; in addition to that, we stormed to a 3-0 victory against a top team such as Calzedonia VERONA. It is nice, it was important to win this first game to start our season. We had much motivation to fight, which we had probably missed in the previous matches. It all worked very well, because all the players shared this attitude,” he says. “We also respected the game plan we had developed to stop Stephen Boyer. We knew that he is their major star and that if we managed to stop him or slow his spikes, things would have been easier for us.”
Chinenyeze explains his decision to move to Italy: “I was coming out of an incredible season with TOURS VB. We won everything and I was the MVP of the league too. Therefore, I found that I needed other challenges; I wanted to see something else, and to rub my shoulders against some of the best players. Therefore, I chose Italy, which has now the best championship in the world.”
French fans supporting Les Bleus at EuroVolley 2019
“More specifically, the project of VIBO VALENTIA was interesting, since they took a lot of young players who wanted to prove themselves alongside more experienced ones; therefore, I thought it was good for me. In addition, as Swan (Ngapeth) and Timothée (Carle) also signed for that club, I was not going to be too out of place, so I thought it was the right choice to get started. I did not want to start straight from a ‘big’ club,” he continues. “It is a kind of a stepping stone. I want to show that I have the level to play in this championship and then try to move to bigger clubs next season.”
Barthélémy seems to have found what he was after: “Yes, there is a high level, very strong teams, big players who have been here for ten years and perform every season. I was expecting that. It is the best international level, with teams that include six or seven players of the best volleyball nations, the same players whom I meet in the summer with the national team. It is very physical, we do a lot of video scouting, it is not easy, but I like it, because you have to be thorough all the time.”
Chinenyeze is adjusting to life in Italy at a fast pace: “I live in a very small town, there are not too many things to do except Volleyball; it has changed a bit from my previous clubs, even Tours, which was a bigger city. In addition to that, with Timothée, we live in a residence twenty minutes from the city, in the countryside. I was very well received, we get along well between players and I learn the language, I already understand a lot of things, and I manage to speak a little.”
Chinenyeze (#21) portrayed together with superstar Earvin Ngapeth during the match with Italy at EuroVolley 2019
Barthélémy had an incredibly busy summer with the French national team, including a highly successful EuroVolley: “What good times! Whether in Montpellier, Nantes or Paris, it was exceptional to play at home and it was amazing to see so many people coming out to support us. I still often remember the mood and review videos; it was beautiful. Afterwards, there is inevitably the disappointment of not having won a medal, because it was such a unique opportunity to do it at home in Bercy in front of more than 10,000 people. We think we could have done better, but that is it. Now we shall focus on the Olympic qualifier in January. We know that it is going to be very tough and we will have to play every game like a final and give it all; we will not have any other option, because this is our last chance to go to the Olympics.”
Four years ago, France qualified for the Olympics in Rio, but Barthélémy was still too young to be a member of that group. “I remember that during the Games I was at the Centre National de Volley-Ball. We watched the Olympics with my colleagues, we dreamed of being there one day, but I did not imagine that it would go so fast for me, that I would play qualifiers for the Olympics, a World Championship, and a European Championship at home. Now, we ‘only’ have to qualify for Tokyo 2020.”