Just two weeks into the regular season, the first coaching change took place in the 2024-2025 Lega Volley Femminile Serie A1 Tigotà and it came from an unexpected team.

One of the five undefeated sides in the Italian League, last year’s runners-up Savino Del Bene Scandicci decided to part ways with former French player Stéphane Antiga after just two matches, bringing veteran Marco Gaspari to take his place.

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The 48-year-old Antiga was hired by Scandicci to replace the departed Massimo Barbolini, who after taking the team to a second-place finish last year accepted an offer to coach in the new American League One Volleyball.

Antiga was signed after five seasons with Poland’s KS DevelopRes Rzeszów, but just two matches into the season, Scandicci’s leadership decided to change directions.

“The decision, taken by the club with deep respect for Antiga's professional path, is motivated by the desire to guarantee the team the best conditions to face a season that has just begun and is full of ambitious goals,” read a statement released by the club. “After an evaluation, an irreconcilable difference of visions about the team's technical development path was found.”

The next move made by the club was hiring the 42-year-old Gaspari, who has a long career coaching in Italy and was most recently with Numia Vero Volley Milano, who Scandicci defeated in last season’s Italian League semifinals.

Gaspari, who also has international experience as an assistant, having worked with Bulgaria and Germany, won the CEV Championship League with Perugia in 2007-2008, also as an assistant, and took silver last year with Milano. He has nine medals (six silver, three bronze) in the Italian League and another six (four silver, two bronze) in the Italian Cup.

“I’m really excited because Scandicci is a team that has done well over the years and wants to do better,” he said in his presentation. “Last year they had a fabulous season with a great final, and being here is an honor for me. Taking over is never easy because it means replacing a colleague, but I couldn't say no to Scandicci and I will do everything I can to help the team achieve its goals.”

First match on Sunday

The new coach is already working with the team and his first match in charge will be Sunday, against Bartoccini-Mc Restorations Perugia, in Florence, at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT), in the third leg of the Italian League.

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