Grottazzolina hires the strong Canadian central defender, involved in the Volley Nations League with his national team and returning from seven seasons in the French top flight
Grottazzolina – After the well-deserved confirmation of Andrea Mattei, the first new face of Yuasa Battery Grottazzolina in the power plant department is Danny Demyanenko. Canadian from Toronto, born in 1994, he is a central defender who already has seven seasons behind him in the French top flight, of which he is now a real point of reference in the role. Demyanenko is not a player who likes to change his shirt often, given that he spent his seven years in France wearing only two shirts: the prestigious one of Spacer’s Toulouse, in the three-year period from 2017 to 2020, and the no less famous one of Montpellier, where he spent his last four championships. Previously, in his homeland, he completed his entire training as an athlete at the Mc Master University of Hamilton, the “Marauders”, where, for four years (from 2012 to 2016), he shared the locker room with Stephen Maar , now a star of the Italian Super League, last season in Monza and in this transfer session moved to the ambitious Piacenza.
Demyanenko’s path is one of dizzying growth, which in the last two years has seen him permanently among the top centre-backs in the top French league, the Marmara SpikeLigue. In the recently concluded season the Canadian scored 92 sets in 25 regular season matches, with 70 blocks, 20 winning serves and a percentage of over 60% in the point attacks category, numbers that make him one of the most complete athletes in his role and which, inevitably, attracted the attention of the Yuasa Battery to him.
His palmares is also interesting, which saw him elected best central defender at the 2023 NORCECA Championships together with authentic volleyball giants, such as the Americans Micah Christenson (setter ex Lube), Miguel Angel Lopez (Cuban star), in addition to the aforementioned Maar . But Demyanenko’s trophy case is also enriched by a French title in the 2021/22 season, a French Supercoupe in 2022/23, a silver and a bronze in the French Cup, respectively in the season just ended and in 2019/20, as well as a bronze in the CEV Cup in 2020/21. His medal collection during his university career is also very rich, with five gold medals in the Ontario University Athletics in as many editions from 2012 to 2017, a circumstance which effectively made him emerge in professionalism, opening the doors to the top transalpine championship.
No less rich is his career in the Canadian national team, which currently sees him playing in Volley Nations League (pre-Olympic tournament between the best national teams in the world) together with many colleagues who know the Italian Super League well: from the current protagonists Loeppky, Maar and Szwarc, to others who have played on Italian pitches in the past such as Hoag, Van Berkel and Barnes, there are many national team teammates who have had the opportunity to advise Demyanenko has landed in the top Italian league, to compete in one of the unquestionably most prestigious championships on the planet. With his national team, the central defender also played in the 2023 FIVB Olympic qualifiers, achieving his goal and therefore Yuasa Battery fans will be able to see him at work in the most prestigious of world sports showcases, the 2024 Paris Olympics, starting on the 26th July.
At the end, off to his first Italian adventure, for which he chose the Grottazzolina shirt after a close courtship by the Fermo club: “I am really excited to have my first experience in Italy, one of the unquestionably most prestigious championships in the world. After the last few seasons spent as a protagonist in France I felt the need to compete in a championship with an even higher level, and I am truly honored by the attention that Grottazzolina has paid to me since the first moment in which it achieved promotion to the Super League. Many national team teammates spoke to me and still speak to me with enthusiasm about this championship, I’m really happy to be able to experience it as a protagonist too. It will certainly be an important opportunity for growth, competing against champions and teams of such a high level is a privilege and I am sure that if we are good at creating a good group we too will be able to have our say and, why not, amaze everyone. For my part, I hope to be able to give a big hand to the team, I can’t wait to meet our fans and make myself known. I will come to Grottazzolina with my wife, I know that it is a small but very welcoming town, it will be a pleasure to live this new experience.”
