The Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) have announced the appointment of Frenchman Cedric Enard at the head coach of their men’s senior national team. Team Türkiye will be making their historic debut in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) later this spring under the guidance of Mr Enard. The two parties signed the agreement at a ceremony held at the iconic Burhan Felek Vestel Volleyball Hall in Istanbul.
After winning the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup, Türkiye earned the right to compete in the VNL for the first time since the introduction of this elite competition in 2018. Furthermore, Türkiye are hoping for a successful rookie season that would lift them in the FIVB World Ranking and send them to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for what would be yet another historic premiere.
On May 21, Türkiye will start their VNL 2024 campaign at home in Antalya, playing against Canada. They will also take on the Netherlands, Enard’s home country France and the United States during the first competition week. Then, they will face Slovenia, Poland, Iran and Germany in Fukuoka, Japan, and finally, they will travel to Ljubljana, Slovenia for their matches against Bulgaria, Argentina, Serbia, and Italy.
It will be the third national team in the 47-year-old Frenchman’s career as head coach. He was previously at the helm of the Croatian national team since 2022, and in 2020 and 2021 he was the head coach of Team Estonia. Earlier in his career, Enard was also an assistant coach of the French national team. He has had a successful journey coaching elite club teams as well, starting from France’s Spacer’s TOULOUSE and TOURS VB, with whom he won the French league title in 2018, before moving to Germany’s BERLIN Recycling Volleys and spending five seasons there, where he won four national titles, two national cups and four national super cups. Enard is currently back in France, managing Alterna Stade Poitevin POITIERS.
“I am very happy and honoured to be here. This is a big step in my career. I know where Turkish Volleyball has come from. I know the team and the players well. We have experienced and very talented players. There is huge potential, and I will try to do my best. We will fight to achieve the highest goals. We have the opportunity to qualify for the Olympics and I promise that we will fight until the end to achieve this goal.”
Cedric Enard
On the 25th BVA General Assembly were representatives from all Balkan Volleyball Federations, with presence of 10 presidents of federations.
Erlind Pellumbi, President of Volleyball Federation Albania is new BVA President and Milutin Popovic, President of Volleyball Federation Bosnia and Herzegovina is new BVA Vice President. The next BVA General Assembly will be held in Tirana.
