Reid Priddy - Interview for Polish magazine "Super Volley" (September 2008)

  • According to the Chinese, the number eight brings lucky. Reid Priddy, outside hitter US team, also believes the number is special. It was this number, 8, that he wore on his NT’s shirt when he was reaching for gold of the World League, to become the Olympic winner not even a month later in Beijing.



    Picture: FIVB


    The American team arrived at Beijing with great expectations, but did you expect to actually win gold?
    At the beginning I was positively shocked. I couldn’t believe that our dream had come true. It’s not a secret, though, that our team had always aimed for gold. Of course, as all the other teams, we secretly dreamt of it. I felt we were capable of making it, that we were among the favorites. Currently, we have a great generation of players on our team. I guess we equal the team that America had in the 1980s and the 1990s, that was wining at the Olympics in 1988 and was awarded bronze medal four years later. We really wanted to go back to those successes, but our primary aim in this season was to get better from game to game. We realized the fact that we could win against all the other teams and that s why we were not so astonished by our own attitude while playing against the best, though, on the other hand we never expected thing to turn out like they did for us. During all those years we worked hard for our success. We were building a team that would improve its performance as the games were approaching and we suceeded.


    Being in the weaker group made it easier for you to get to the quarterfinal.
    It was not us to decide which group we would be in. At the Olympics in Athens we also had theoretically weaker partners at the beginning of the competition. It did get us to the semifinals, but the finished the whole competition on the fourth position. I believe it doesn’t mean anything what rivals you get in the group phase. If you want to become the Olympic winner, you just have to win against everyone.


    The Olympic finals were your third game in the last several months for you to play against the Brazilians. You won each time. Do you have some sort of patent on winning against the world champions?
    I guess we have been very patient in our games with the Brazilians. We know perfectly well that there are many great players on their team, we accept that fact, but it does not paralyze us. We know our value and somehow we manage to play our best volleyball against the Brazil NT, letting them play their best game at the same time. It also happens, that when we stand against other rivals who do not match the Brazilians, we are not so focused or patient. That is why we sometimes performed worse against the less demanding opponents. I believe that if we eliminate this kind of behavior and will approach all the other teams as we approach Brazil, then we will show you our best volleyball also during other games.


    Lloy Ball revealed that you are not very fond of the Brazilian players. Is this antipathy another impulse in your matches with the Brazil National Team?
    But I do like the Brazilian players! Really. I respect them for what they have achieved and I value them as people. Believe me, there are many teams I don’t like more than Brazil, but I will not tell you which teams they are.


    It has been said that the US National Team has no leader, and that your strength is the balanced team, but at the same time it is you who are seen as the key player on the team.
    My role in the team has changed since the last year. A year or two ago I was in better form and I think that my individual skills, such as serving and attack were on much higher level than currently. However, this had no direct impact on the results our team. I have now understood that the number of points I score is not important. What is important is the team and as a team we need to do everything we can to improve our skills, not individually, but as a team. Our team is consolidated. It was that great metamorphosis which we underwent last year. I believe that now nobody in our national team cares about their individual score. We share a purpose and we aim to reach it without paying attention to personal achievements of individual players. During competitions I do not follow my position in rankings. It just does not interest me.


    What was the atmosphere like inside the team in those crucial moments?
    This year, I noticed a very positive change in this area. I wouldn’t call our national team a family, as the Brazilians do, but the truth is, we spend a lot more time together these days, than we do with our families. Before, we happened to play games where the communication between us on the playground failed. Recently, we have been working on this and the effects could already be seen during the Final Six in Rio de Janeiro. Now, we support each other in difficult moments, we are one and that unity and mutial respect are very important to us. At the same time we are aware of our worth as players and of the level we are able to keep up to. Every single score counts. We have a great will to succeed at each game, since when we put on out national team shirts we feel honored by the fact, pride and responsibility, of representing our country.



    Picture: FIVB

  • It is no secret that volleyball in the USA is a niche discipline. While triumphant in the world’s most important competitions you were also fighting to raise its popularity in your country and for better conditions of its development and for yourselves.
    I hope that the success which is the gold medal will help promote volleyball in the United States. Our country is undergoing changes, but we are still waiting for the professional league to be founded. Its lack forces us to live away from our country, in the far-off Europe, which I personally dislike. It is different when you come to the Europe for a visit and live here permanently. Believe me, it is not so simple. In our case, the problem is in finding the right balance between our national team and club lives. After the league season is over and we return to America, there usually is the national team duty waiting for us there and it is difficult to find any time to rest. It gets hard at times but what can we do. Yes, the American League – that would be something!


    You are complaining about Europe. Is playing in Russia so hard?
    It is not so bad. We live in Siberia, which is practically the other side of the world, but in fact life in Russia is similar to the one in Western Europe. It might be due to the fact that Novosibirsk is a large city – the third biggest one in Russia and it has many attractive spots, be it restaurants or shopping centers. In fact, Novosibirsk is different than the cities in Europe only in that it is a bit colder there.


    What made you accept the offer from the other side of the world then?
    The Russian Superleague games are on a very high level, but what is the most important for me is that the organization of the club in Novosibirsk is professional. It has in the previous years happened that my employers did not meet the conditions they offered in my contracts. Here, these things do not happened. What the contract says, is guaranteed to the player. Everything in Novosibirsk is approached fully professionally, in a perfectionist way even, which I appreciate a lot. That fact was among the reasons why I decided to prolong my contract with a club for another year, the first time in my life.



    Many of your team colleagues have played in Poland. Did any of them encourage you to try it here, in our league?
    To tell you the truth I haven’t been particularly encouraged to come to Poland, but I have been aware for a long time, that your country provides excellent conditions for volleyball. There are many newspapers, magazines and TV programs about this sport, and that is very important. I also think that playing in the Polish league is really exciting, and that is thanks to your fans. The Polish fans love volleyball and know it inside out. They are really incredible. That is priceless.


    You are known for your fantastic gambade. While attacking, you touch the ball as high as 353 centimeters above the ground, despite being only 196 centimeters tall yourself. Does this come from a special way in which you exercise, in order to improve that natural ability?
    I don’t think I train in any different way from others. While some exercises may make you jump a little bit higher, but don’t expect someone who has such an ability naturally will jump so high for his whole life. There are no special exercises for improving my gambade. I just try to be at my best each time.


    This season you have been. You were positioned very high in individual statistics both during the World League games and the Olimpics.
    I trained very hard before the Olympics and at the same time I tried to stay in good health, since it has been a very hard year for me. I have played for sixteen months without any break. This summer finally brought me some time off... the whole two weeks! It wasn’t easy, but the players of all teams were in the same situation. Everyone wanted to be prepared to the Olympics as well as possible. It would be great if we could rest a bit after such a strenuous period. It is impossible, though, since we all return to playing in our clubs in the run.


    Let’s talk about the brighter sides of playing volleyball. Coming out to at the medal awarding ceremony you always take a video camera with you.
    It is a hobby of mine. I am interested in film production, and I especially value creativity in making them. I also run my own website (http://www.reidpriddy.com – editor’s note) which I try to keep up to date. Unfortunately I don’t have too much time for it. I hope that after I have finished my career I will be able to devote more attention to both of my pastimes.


    How did volleyball appear between so diverse interests?
    I just loved it from the start! The feeling was spontaneous and natural at the same time. Before that, I played soccer for eleven years. I also pracitced baseball and basketball. When I was 15 a volleyball coach noticed me. He claimed I was gifted for this game and when I tried volleyball I immediately fell in love. I also love surfing. Me and my wife Lindsay have recently bough a house near to a beach in California. The sun shines practically everyday there. I have a bicycyle with a special carrier for my surfing board. When I get home I take my whole gear and go to the beach surfing. I love it! Together with my wife we put a lot of effort and heart into the building of our Newport Beach house but this was exactly what we wanted.


    The new house will have to wait for you a bit.
    It’s true, in the league season my wife stays with me in Novosibirsk. Lindsay is an interior decorator by profession but while in Russia she is a full-time... wife. She is a great support for me. She gets up every morning with me to give me breakfast and help me prepare for training. She often goes with me to away games. Should someone observe my career closely they would surely notice that since the moment when Lindsay came into my life I have made a huge step forward.


  • Priddy’s words on...
    Returning to the USA after winning the gold
    When we landed at the airport, the people who were in the arrivals hall at the time greeted us with a standing ovation. It was incredible! We had got used to volleyball being neglected in America, and us being anonymous. Such reception is a proof that on our way for gold those people were with us. That was the reason of that special moment.


    American television
    After winning the World League in Rio de Janeiro I received many congratulations from volleyball fans from different countries. It was incredible that the final competitions were transmitted by television in many countries... except the United States!


    Perfectionism
    I am a perfectionist. I like things to be in the right order. I don’t shun hard work and I draw satisfaction from overcoming my weaknesses. I come to training sessions not to have a laugh with others but to exercise. The training hall is not a place for horseplay. This is the approach to training I like.


    The most suffered defeat
    There were two games like that and both were against Russia. The first one was the match for the bronze medal at the Athens Olympic games. The other defeat happened during the last World Cup.


    The hardest question
    I have always had problems telling where I come from. I was born in Richmont, Virginia, where my parents come from and still live. Still, we later moved three times, to San Diego, Florida and to Phoenix. I spend the bigger part of my life in those states too.


    First job
    My first job was at McDonald’s. My job was to open the place at 4.30 and in order to make it I had to get up at 4 a.m.! What a sacrifice, wasn’t it?!