Assistant coach Claudio Mantarro also leaves Volley Letojanni
Asd Volley Letojanni announces that, after a series of meetings that took place in recent days between the club and coach Gianpietro Rigano, both parties, by mutual agreement, have decided not to continue together in the next competitive season. The journey began 5 years ago when the coach of Santa Teresa origins took over from Giovanni Bonaccorso after only three days from the start of the championship and led the team into first position at the end of the first round with just one defeat which guaranteed him participation in the Cup Italy against Sorrento.
After a few weeks the pandemic effectively ended the games early with the Letojan team in first place in the rankings. In the following season, after various difficulties and vicissitudes due to the repeated postponement of the start of the championship, the team led by Rigano was able to reach the play-offs, a race interrupted in the semi-finals when Palermo shattered their dream of promotion. But Rigano and his staff achieved the true masterpiece the following year (2021-2022 season) when, with a strong and compact team both on and off the pitch, after having achieved repeated successes in the regular season during which it suffered only one defeat, however insignificant, occurred in the last championship match on the Bronte pitch, they disputed the promotion play-offs and prevailed in the double match against Gioia del Colle and Lazio Volley.
May 29, 2022 will remain a date engraved in everyone’s mind and a historic result for the small coastal town for having obtained promotion to Serie A3 on the pitch at the end of the match played in Rome against Lazio Volley. The following year, after the sale of the title resulting from various vicissitudes linked above all to structural and economic motivations, Rigano managed with the same team to once again reach first place in the standings and reach the play-offs for the fourth consecutive time. A dream to be repeated which was interrupted in the play-offs against Sarroch, Cagliari and Galatina. Finally, in the last season after a break with the past, marked by the departure of some veteran players, we wanted to launch a young project and the results obtained were in line with what the club hoped for at the beginning of the season with a sixth place finish which the Letojannese managers were largely satisfied. Rigano, assisted by his technical staff, managed to create a perfect machine and obtain the sixth promotion of his career after those achieved in Piazza Armerina with Sicily Data Systems Catania, with Heraclea Gela, with Pallavolo Messina and with Misterbianco who consecrated him and made him one of the most successful coaches on the peninsula, especially in the men’s sector.
A respectable person, a friend first of all and a coach with whom the club parted ways without any rancor and with mutual respect after both parties realized that the time had come to change and dive into new experiences and new challenges. “Even good things come to an end…. After a thousand adventures leading Volley Letojanni – is the declaration of Mister Rigano – our professional relationship ends; from today I will remain tied only emotionally to this beautiful reality. They were five unforgettable years peppered with important successes culminating with promotion to Serie A3 in the 2021-2022 season. I will carry with me a happy memory of a club and a team that always paid me great attention. A big hug to everyone.”
The club wishes Gianpietro the best luck in his sporting career and that the future will allow him to achieve the same results he had in the five-year period on the banks of the Ionian Sea.
Asd Volley Letojanni also announces that by mutual agreement with the second coach Claudio Mantarro, it was agreed not to continue the sporting collaboration relationship for the next season. The coach who needs no introduction and who in his career has obtained three promotions in the women’s sector, in order with Giarre, Santa Teresa and Zafferana which make him one of the most prepared coaches in the entire island panorama. The club also left on good terms with Mantarro and thanks him for his commitment and the results achieved in these three seasons of work done together. We also wish him the best of luck for his sporting future. “You’re always a little disappointed – he comments Claudio Mantarro – qwhen paths based on mutual esteem are interrupted. But this is all part of the rules of the game. They have been three years full of professional and human growth. I wish Letojanni all the best.”
In the next few days, the club will communicate the name of the new coach and the technical staff who will accompany the team in the next sports season which will be the eleventh consecutive year in Serie B.
