A PRO FOR PROS - Europe's most successful coach: Marco SOLUSTRI

European Championship Tour 2004

Zurich, 3rd May 2004. If Marco Solustri were a greenhorn in the coaching business, he would sometimes doubt his players' commitment. Marco Solustri coaches the 2003 European Champions, Okka Rau and Stephanie Pohl. The German team has so many PR appointments three weeks before the season-opening tournament of the European Championship Tour in Roseto degli Abruzzi (Italy) from 13-16 May 2004, that there is inevitably less time for athletic activities. For over a week now all sorts of international television crews are hounding Okka Rau (27) and Stephanie Pohl (25) in Rome, where they train with Marco Solustri.

The defending champions are the talk of the town, whether it is a new television commercial for their sponsor or a taping for a TV sports show. A crew form "Deutsche Welle" is accompanying Pohl/Rau for 15 full days, including the European Championship Final in Timmendorfer Strand from 10-13 June 2004. Recently Stephanie Pohl even got an offer for a photo story for the American edition of Playboy magazine. "It was tempting financially", Pohl/Rau's manager, Mr. Frantzen (Hildesheim/Germany), says, "but it is too early." The first objective is to build on, maybe even improve, last year's athletic accomplishments during this year's European Championship Final and the Olympic Games.

"Offers like this and all media attention are just part of the business", Marco Solustri says, and nobody knows this business like him. At the age of 44 he is already the most successful coach on the Beach Volleyball scene. As a player he was Italian champion several times and was third on the world-ranking list in 1990. He began his coaching career in 1995 and dominated the competition on the European level with the Italian women's teams, Solazzi/Bruschini and Perrotta/Gattelli. During the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney Solazzi/Bruschini even came in fifth place.

Success that strengthened Solustri's belief in his coaching capabilities. Solustri began to expand his coaching duties. He opened a centre for Beach Volleyball in Rome, designated for professionals, amateurs and beginners. In the morning, he chases the stars through the sand to get them ready for international competition. In the afternoon he gives coaching clinics to children, teens and hobby athletes in the fundamentals of the game, teaching them poke shots, cuts, digs and other moves. He spends at least ten hours a day on the courts.

His players profit from his yearlong experience and knowledge of the game. "Everything Marco says makes sense", Okka Rau says about her coach. The German national team members started working with Solustri only at the end of last year. To do that they fly to Rome regularly, where they share an apartment with the men's European Champions, Nik Berger (30) and Clemens Doppler (35) from Austria. The two Austrians have also realised Solustri' s enormous assets and made sure he became their coach. "With Marco we have the best possible training conditions", Clemens Doppler says. "We also value him as a friend and a partner who always knows what he's talking about."
Two European Champions and Europe's most successful coach in one team – best conditions for a successful season. There can only be one mutual goal: "Defending the title during the European Championship Final in Timmendorfer Strand and to make a big splash in Athens," they say. In other words: A medal at the Summer Olympic Games in Athens would be the culmination of a great success story. Or, in the words of Marco Solustri: "We are long overdue for an Olympic medal."

Background information on the European Championship Tour
The European Championship Tour is the highest ranked series of European Beach Volleyball tournaments that promotes the sport and its star players on a European level. The series of tournaments culminates into the European Championship Final as the season's highlight.

For further information please visit www.eurobeachtour.com and/or contact the Communication Managers of the European Championship Tour Klaus Wegener and Felix Meininghaus at communications@eurobeachtour.com.

Background information on the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball
The CEV is the FIVB supporting institution responsible for governing 54 National Volleyball Federations throughout Europe and is recognised as such by the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) for Volleyball and Beach Volleyball. The CEV has the authority and responsibility for organising all European Competitions, especially the European Championship Tour (Men & Women).

For further information please contact the CEV Head Office in Luxembourg, Olivier Mottier at olivier.mottier@cev.lu or + 352 25 46 46 25.

Background information on Global Sports Marketing Ltd. (GSM)
GSM is dedicated to the development and implementation of innovation in sports and entertainment. The company positions and markets international sports and entertainment properties on behalf of the respective rights-holders. Besides, it offers all services related to the marketing of commercial rights - media, sponsorship and licensing/merchandising rights as well as development of sports brands. GSM, based in Zurich (Switzerland) develops, promotes and markets the European Championship Tour within a long-term partnership with the European Volleyball Confederation CEV.

For further information please contact Global Sports Marketing, Christian Scholbrock at
christian.scholbrock@gsmglobalsports.com or +41 43 244 9977.