A native of Vitebsk trains Russia's top women's volleyball team

Denis Matveev is the coach of the women's volleyball team that won the Russian Championship gold. The club is known even to those far from sports – it is Kazan's "Dynamo," where the great athlete of our time, Ekaterina Gamova, plays. Before settling in the capital of Tatarstan, the native of Vitebsk had a difficult but interesting path. Denis professionally engaged in sports, worked at the enterprise "Vitebskoblgaz," danced, acted in films, and even repaired cars. He told us all about it in detail.

— Let's go back to the origins. The website of Kazan's "Dynamo" states that Denis Matveev was born in Vitebsk.

— Yes, in Vitebsk. Until the age of 11, I had a very eventful life, completely unrelated to sports, as my father was a serviceman. We moved around the entire Soviet Union with my family. We lived in Ukraine for a long time, and in Mongolia for two years.

Then fate brought us to Transbaikalia, and I lived in the Chita region for five years. After that, my parents divorced, I returned to Vitebsk and started playing volleyball here. One day, a coach came into the classroom and said, "Children, stand up… You and you are going to practice tonight." That's how a specialized sports class was formed. It was a team of girls' basketball and boys' volleyball players born in 1977 at Secondary School No. 25.

— How does one get from School No. 25 into professional sports?

— Transitions to professional clubs happened after finishing school, when you were mature and had received a certain education. First, an athlete would enter the Olympic Reserve College, and then – into the top teams of Belarus.

That's how I got into the youth national team of Belarus. I went to training camps for a long time, and at 17, I moved to Brest. I entered Brest State University and joined the team "Zapadny Bug" (Brest). I played here for three years, but I had a relationship with a girl in Vitebsk, who is now my wife. We wanted to make a serious decision, and I returned to Vitebsk.

There was the "Marco-Dynamo" team, but due to certain disagreements, I didn't stay with them and played the season in Orsha (VK BKUU). Then Alexander Egorovich Pozdnyakov invited me to the "Shakhtospecstroy" team, which today plays at the Russian Super League level. Here I started having health problems: I had a serious knee and ankle injury, and I had to quit sports. I was recovering while working at "Oblgaz".

The question arose – to continue my playing career or try myself in public service, where there is some stability, a foundation for a family, because at that time I had two children. Here I was lucky to meet Natalia Alexandrovna Chernyuk. And it was a new stage in my life when I tried to realize myself in dancing.

Natalia Alexandrovna is one of the best choreographers in Belarus. It was very fruitful work. After all, I hadn't been involved in dancing before that. I just had a burning desire, a drive. When I found myself in a similar environment created by Natalia Alexandrovna, everything just clicked. She revealed my potential.

— So it wasn't easy to return to sports?

— It was still a long way to a coaching career. "Oblgaz" forged me as a personality, as a person ready for certain difficulties, for certain life changes. I felt the potential within myself, but it was difficult to realize it within the public system.

It was hard until I moved to Moscow. This city changed my worldview, my attitude to life, changed my character. In Vitebsk, I had a certain status, two higher educations, I held a good position. Moscow leveled everything, grounded all my ambitions, explained who you are in this life.

— What did you do for work in Moscow?

— I worked as a mechanic dismantling Japanese cars. It was a test for me after a stellar path in Vitebsk, when I performed on many stages with the "Carnival" ensemble from "Vitebskoblgaz", all stages of the Republic of Belarus, "Slavianski Bazaar". I had a solid background, and falling into car dismantling was sad and regrettable. At 27 years old, with two children.

— Didn't you want to drink?

— Many thoughts came to mind, but I didn't give up. I still tried to get a foothold in Moscow. Two months later, I got into filming a movie at Mosfilm, and played four episodic roles. I traveled to Moscow at night by commuter trains to get noticed in films. It was difficult to return to that grime, to dismantling cars.

After some time, I received a promotion, and my financial situation changed completely. But I still understood that it was temporary, and I had already decided then that I would return to sports.

It happened quite unusually. I had been working in Brest since I was 17 under the guidance of Petr Ivanovich Khilko (now the head coach of VK Pribuzhye-Brest). And at that very moment, he was in Moscow, heading "Kazanocka". We met by chance, and this meeting changed my life – I started a coaching career. My career path started from the very bottom. I began as a statistician, then became a coach-statistician, coach-analyst, senior coach, and worked as head coach for a year.

— How did you end up in Kazan?

— Before the London Olympics, the head coach of "Dinamo-Kazan", Rishat Gilyazutdinov, was offered to lead the Russian women's national team at the Games. But due to family circumstances, he withdrew his candidacy. Sergey Anatolyevich Ovchinnikov then led the team, and I worked with Sergey Anatolyevich in Krasnodar (VK Dynamo) as a coach-statistician.

That year, we won bronze in the Superleague. After a successful season at the club, he invited me to work with the second team at the 2011 Universiade in Shenzhen as a senior coach. We also won bronze there. At the same time, I received an offer from Gilyazutdinov to move to Kazan.

Although this was also not accidental. From 2008 to 2010, I worked in Kazakhstan with his brother, Rafael Gilyazutdinov, on the men's national team of the Republic of Kazakhstan. And a year before that, I worked with the women's national team of Kazakhstan, which qualified for the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. This was a significant achievement for the republic. That's how my career took off, and offers started coming in.

— Is it difficult to work in a women's team?

— I won't lie, it's tough, but very interesting. I have to work a lot both on the court with the girls and on tactical interactions off the court — participate in analyzing opponents' games, search for fresh information on players and teams. So there's a lot of work.

Although there is one peculiarity in the women's team: if the girls believe in you and you are honest with them, they will work with you and believe in you until the end. And that's worth a lot. But on the other hand, a top team consists of professionals, there's no point in explaining or telling them anything. Everyone understands why they are here and why they have gathered, what tasks are set. So everyone gets involved in the work and does their job.

— Tell us about Gamova.

— Gamova is a great person, not only as a world volleyball star but also as a person. She is very open. You have to understand how difficult it is for her to maintain this level. Such attention is very hard to bear. Everyone wants to hug her, touch her. But she gets tired of it. Besides, the season is not easy, there is a lot of work and responsibility. And she wants ordinary human happiness, like any girl.

— What are the hobbies of the girls from "Dynamo"?

— Katya Ulanova is a fan of the CSKA football club. Masha Borodakova is fond of photography.

— Do you also do photography?

— Yes. Only now I mainly shoot on my phone with a good camera. I was recently in Cairo for coaching courses and took a lot of good shots with this camera.

— Let's move on to Belarusian volleyball. An outsider's perspective.

— When it comes to women's volleyball, everything is very dire. Especially since Belarusian women's teams do not participate in European cups. It's painful to hear. And although I work in Russia, I am a patriot of my homeland. And I would like to return and work here.

I have daughters growing up in Vitebsk, and they have nowhere to play volleyball. And even if some players appear in Belarus, they are stolen or bought out. Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia…

It is impossible to develop a high-level player here. There is no financial support, and players cannot grow without financial injections. Systematized work must be carried out. Youth volleyball strives to reach the middle tier, then it moves on to higher, top-level volleyball. But it doesn't exist, and everything dies down here.

The situation in men's volleyball is slightly different. Here, the team has been brought up to the level of the Russian Super League, and many young players have experienced this level: what the club system and infrastructure should be like. But the continuation should be handled by specialists from Belarus.

It was a mistake to appoint Sidelnikov (Viktor Vladimirovich Sidelnikov is the head coach of VC "Shakhtyor-Soligorsk" and the Belarusian men's national team). He came here as a mercenary, he came here to earn money. He won't be bothered if he loses tomorrow.

And the most important thing is youth sports, children's sports. In Belarus, in two or three years, there will be a gap because there is no generation capable of replacing the current players.

— What is your attitude towards Oleg Akhrem's return (he played for the Belarusian national team, then tried to establish himself in the Polish national team)?

— We have already lost this player once, and we lost him miserably. Now, if there is an opportunity to get him back, then it's great. Some may be offended by those who fought for a ticket to Europe. But this is life and big sports.

— Do the team members know which city you are from?

— Of course, they call me "the Belarusian." I am like the face of the club there. I am Belarusian to them, although I am changing my citizenship now. In the future, I will have a Russian passport, but not without a Belarusian one. I hope that sooner or later I will return here and work here. And I hope not just to work, but to help the country.

— Did you tell the team anything about Vitebsk?

— Yes, I invite everyone to visit, it's a magnificent city. There is a cool festival here that brings together many countries of the world. I only speak in the best terms about my hometown. I'll say more – my wife and children live here, and that's the most precious thing in my life.

— What do they say about Belarus in Kazan?

— Head coach of "Dynamo" Rishat Gilyazutdinov loves his native country, he is from Kazakhstan. I love my country. You should never lose your roots. I am proud that I am from this city, born in Belarus. I am proud that I am glorifying my native Vitebsk. And for this, they respect me there, in Russia.

Andrey Kozlov, Vitebsk4.me