Türkiye head for VNL debut with new coach

The men’s national team of Türkiye will make their Volleyball Nations League debut this spring under a new head coach. At a special ceremony held at the iconic Burhan Felek volleyball hall in Istanbul, Frenchman Cedric Enard signed a contract with the Turkish national federation to take over from previous coach Alberto Giuliani.

After winning the 2023 Volleyball Challenger Cup, Türkiye earned the right to compete in VNL 2024 for the first time in the history of the competition. Furthermore, they 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 yet another debut.

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 a head coach. Until now he had been in charge of the Croatian national team since 2022, and in 2020 and 2021 he was at the helm of Estonia. Earlier in his career, Enard was also an assistant coach of the French national team. He has had a successful journey coaching club teams as well, starting from France’s Spacer’s Toulouse and Tours, with whom he won the French championship title in 2018, and going to Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys for five seasons, 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,” Enard said during the signing ceremony in Istanbul. “I know where Turkish volleyball has come from. I know the team and 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 that goal.”

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