Bergamo. It was a tortuous end to the year experienced by Volleyball Bergamo 1991: the dismissal of coach Carlo Parisi after a year and a half has closed a chapter in its own way and now he will be the deputy Marcello Cervellin to carry forward the sports project, designed in the summer of 2024 together with the Dal club sports director Matteo Bertini.
The latter took stock of the three-year planning basis, set his sights on 2026 and archived a 2025 which will end in Conegliano on Sunday in a prohibitive Italian Cup quarter-final, but which still represents an objective: to be there. “We are happy with the moment in which we end this year”, explains the sporting director, “with two positive tests against Busto (3-0 at ChorusLife, ed.) and Novara (3-2 defeat only in the tiebreak, ed.) which showed how confidence is growing towards the new year”.
Let’s start from the end: how difficult was it to decide to separate from Carlo Parisi?
“So much so, because in addition to sport there are relationships with people. We need to look at his work in its entirety: he took a team from the third-to-last place to the playoffs, he gave credibility and respect to our reality. This year’s results, however, are not satisfactory, not only because of him, but we know well how it works. You can’t change everything. I know something about it: it happened to me too in the middle of the season, in Florence, in my first year as a coach. It can happen and it’s part of sport. As a coach I never wanted to, but it was the only solution we could explore”.
A year ago we talked about a team that won 6 games in a row after 6 years of not happening. What has changed?
“Expectations are certainly higher now, last year we were only thinking about salvation as soon as possible, this year instead about the playoffs. And this generated pressure, a personal self-need on the part of all the members: we saw it as an achievable goal. It’s not that we are doomed, on the contrary, we are alive, but perhaps in this last period there was a little too much tension. Last year we started without expectations, and in this period a year ago we were experiencing a sort of magic given by that streak mentioned which clearly brought us already to salvation. And everything that came was something more. Now, however, everything that has to come must be earned.”
Then there are the numbers: only 6 victories in all of 2025 compared to 24 defeats. In 2024 there were 11, including the bad period before your arrival and your salvation.
“We cannot add the end of last season to the start of this year because the context is too different. Last year we had all the direct clashes at the beginning, even the physical preparation was based on being ready immediately: the results proved us right, then we paid for the choice in the long term. This season is separate: it was the opposite, with a complex calendar at the beginning, then in the matches in which we had to make the difference we arrived with insecurity given by the defeats, even if they came against teams in the highest rankings. They are two different seasons, then the numbers remain the same, but a clear distinction must be made. We changed players and in between there were 6 months of break.”
What made you choose Cervellin as an internal solution, keeping the rest of the staff intact?
“I think that Marcello is a young coach with a great desire to demonstrate and work: he knows the environment well, the problems of the team, he doesn’t have to discover anything and this makes things easier for him, both from a technical and mental point of view, because we are not very well in that aspect. Especially in the last few matches we lost to two newly promoted teams, they are heavy defeats. He is the right person to give the extra contribution. We have made some external evaluations, but we see Cervellin as the right man to try to reverse this trend. I want to underline the total trust in him. We will bring in an assistant coach to put things right from a numerical point of view.”
Did you expect to end the year with at least a different loot?
“Yes, we expected a few more points – and also a few more victories than the 4 we achieved in 15 matches at the time of farewell with coach Parisi. They are few. We threw away the points that were almost won, between tiebreaks and comebacks suffered from an advantageous position, the wasted match points… We could have had at least 5-6 more. And the matches in Macerata and San Giovanni in Marignano were very disappointing, for the team performances”.
The summer choice of continuity (also in the roster) seemed right at that moment: seen in perspective, are you reevaluating it?
“No. I would do it all over again, because we have signed a setter with enormous potential, we have Kipp who is one of the best opposites in Italy, among the best scorers in the championship. And even on the bench there are great values: I think of Meli who has now joined the sextet, of the space that Carraro is finding, of the use of Bolzonetti. We lack Montalvo’s physical condition a bit, she is carrying various physical problems and we must do everything to get her back at the top.”
You mentioned Eze and Kipp: what did they give more and what can they give?
“In terms of continuity of performance, they both have great margins. They haven’t always done very well in decisive moments. They need to put forward the same excellent performance, become aware that they are at this level.”
In the summer of 2024 there was talk of a three-year project: has anything changed over the months?
“No. Last year we forged ahead, in two and a half months we saved ourselves, exceeding the initial objective and now we are in line. By qualifying for the Italian Cup we have achieved another objective, even if it will be prohibitive against Conegliano. We are fighting for the playoffs, so we are in line”.
What are your resolutions for 2026?
“There is a further step to take, which will clearly depend on the budget which will be a factor. For now we are aligned, but next year in the planning there is the search for an even higher ranking position and to try to return to playing a European cup. We need certainties on an economic level to take this step and confirm the players in the project, because there are many other clubs that are coming knocking. So we must have the economic strength to be able to be competitive. And even if we are not able to make entries, we will always try to respect the our program, making the right bets because we must not rely only on economic accounts, but on solid team thinking that can give 120% at all times.”
Since there are delays in the construction of the new arena, does the fact of having to stay away from Bergamo for yet another season (almost certainly 2026/27) affect your planning?
“Relatively. The fact of playing at the Arena has brought us closer to the city again and in any case we are receiving affection in Treviglio, it is a city that loves us. In the third year we have assimilated the logistical organization well. Of course, in terms of quality it would be more convenient to stay in the city. We know it. We have a gym in Celadina which offers us good spaces and therefore from a technical point of view it doesn’t have much impact. Meanwhile, after the match on 4 January against Chieri we hope to be able to return to Bergamo again at playoffs. Let’s think about qualifying first.”
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