A Very Small Town Playing in the Top League

Sliac is a very small town, with about 5,000 inhabitants, in Central Slovakia.

Nevertheless, a local girls volleyball team made it to the top Slovakian volleyball league.

All this was made possible thanks to the enthusiasm and love for volleyball of Dusan Lehotsky, a history teacher at a local primary school and coach of the team.



The News.sk asked Mr Lehotsky the following:

1. Did you play volleyball professionally when you were younger?

Only in amateur local and regional leagues as there was no need for a special license which is required when you play professionally.

2. When did you establish the team and when you made it to the top league?

The very first team was established some 19-20 years ago at Primary School 1 in Zvolen, but the first “real” team which played in an organized league was set up in Sliac in 1996. However, regular training for the big tournaments took place in 2000. And we made it to the top league in the season 2007/2008 which is a big success when one realizes that there are about 100 teams in Slovakia in this category and we are the only non- district town playing there...

More you can find at www.volleyball-zv-sliac.estranky.sk.

3. What are your biggest successes apart from playing in the top league?

The most successful was the season 2008/2009 when we ended at 5 - 6 place in a league table. Moreover, in the months of April, May and June we took part at two international tournaments in Poltar and Levice where we did not lose a one single match. We beat teams from Bratislava, the Czech Republic (Praha, Prostejov, Prerov), Hungary (Budapest) and teams from Poland and Italy.

4.What languages do you use when taking part in international tournaments?

We have taken part at tournaments in the Czech Republic and Italy, and we have invitations from Poland, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria and England, but our budget is rather limited so we have to turn these down. Nevertheless, we are known in Europe and USA as well where one of our players played one year. Languages are important, and we use English, French and sometimes German.

5. You have already mentioned that your budget is limited but again how do you fund your club?

Funding comes from different sources. One is from players which is 50 Euro per year and each and the rest is a coach's effort to find sponsors like for example from the town Sliac, local bank, insurance company, etc…. It would be very helpful to find new sponsors as we have new plans for the season 2011/2012 to do all this on higher more professional level.

We would be very grateful for any sponsorship so if there might be sponsors interested in sponsoring our club they can contact me: dusanleho(at)gmail.com

Thank you very much Mr Lehotsky for your time.

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