Mauro Berruto - Through Madagascar to volleyball

  • It's a part of interview with Mauro Berruto for Polish magazine "Świat Siatkówki" April 2008


    What connects volleyball with the rites of Madagskar? Theoretically and practically probably nothing. However, there is a man who moves with equal efficiency in two fields of knowledge. He knows everything about the volleyball, and of Fady - Malagasy tribal codes. Coach and philosopher, who is simply Mauro Berruto.



    Admit that you're a workaholic ...
    I am. When two years ago, I worked only with Finland's national team and all winter I was free, I simply was bored. I felt like a player who trains only with national team but did not play at the club and stays lazy for the entire league season. I like to have something to do. With all my responsibilities, I tried, of course, to find time for my family. The most difficult in this respect was the year 2007. First it was the preparation, then the World League, European Championships, Olympic qualification. I was lucky enough to accept the closest family accept my passions and they know that when I have nothing to do, I feel much worse than when I have too much work.


    What do you consider most successful in already extensive coaching career?
    In the past, I have won the Serie A2 championship and Cup CEV for Macerata. I also worked as an assistant to coach Montali during the Olympic Games in Athens. From that period I kept many great memories, but the most valuable achievement was a fourth place at the European Championships in Russia. It was not a medal, we did not stand on the podium, but I believe this result to be my biggest success to date, which has earned itself, creating a team from scratch.


    You were also at the Olympics, when the Italians won the silver medal.
    Going for the Games was the biggest dream of my childhood. In this dream there was not a bit of rationality, but things turned out so that I went. But I did not have a share in the result achieved by the representation of Italy and therefore I did not mention it as an achievement in coach career.



    You're talking about the volleyball with great passion. Do you remember how it all began?
    When someone asks me why I chose volleyball, I always answer that ... I have no idea why. As a kid I practiced several sports, including volleyball. I liked it, but I was a poor contestant. Zero height, zero aptitude for the game at a good level. When I was 21 I decided to end this pseudo career. I went to college and I started to work with the kids. In 1996 I returned from Madagascar, and as a freshly minted graduate of philosophy I did not really know what to do with myself. I went to Greece, and there I decided that I will deal with the volleyball.


    What were you doing in Madagascar?
    I worked. In Italy, I studied philosophy. At the end I wrote thesis about tribal rites in Madagascar. I conducted research, and therefore I spent several months on the island with a group of students.


    Where did the idea of writing about Madagascar come from?
    The choice was dictated by personal reasons. For the first time I met with the culture of this country, when one of the members of my family adopted a child from Madagascar. During my studies fascination with the culture of the island returned. My supervisor was pleased with the choice of subject, since at that time none of our university have made any research on a similar topic. I went to Madagascar, where I lived, slept in the church missionaries watched the rustic life, culture, customs and rituals. I drove the entire length and breadth of Madagascar.


    However, having satisfied the scientific ambitions, your turned to volleyball. Why?
    I do not know, but I made the decision in 1996. Step by step I got to the Italian league. I met Gian Paolo Montali, who then worked with a team from Treviso. He liked my ideas, so he suggested me to join. Episode associated with the philosophy today is treated as a hobby. My life is volleyball.


    You are also a journalist, you write books, you lecture at university ...
    That's because I can not stand idle. I am very proud of the two books that I wrote. Sometimes, I also publish for Italian sports newspapers, meet people on a variety of lectures. But I must point out that I could not do these things, if I was not a coach. If I had not cemented a coach position, then no one would probably want to talk to me.


    Do you already have in mind new ideas for the future?
    Of course. I'll do the same thing as before. A very wise man, who worked in one of the Colombian football clubs, once told me that to build the civilization , three things are needed: a good education, high levels of sports and health. In my own way I will build a new civilization. My next goal is the 2012 Olympic Games.



    source: Świat Siatkówki

  • Jesus would not miss the penalty shot
    Mauro Berruto wrote two books. In 2005 "Andiamo a Vera Cruz con quattro acca. Storie di sport e scacchi matti" and in 2007 "Independiente Sporting".



    The first is a collection of short stories recounting the sporting passions on examples of entirely different and unrelated people. - Every Italian child knows who Jesus and Robberto Baggio were, and if to ask, what is the difference, say they that Jesus would not miss the penalty shot during the World Cup finals. - Mauro Berruto writes.



    The second book is different. It is the story of a man who in the fifties for two weeks had worked as a football coach in the small town of Leticia in Colombia. With his ideas he went far beyond existing time standards. He was considered a madman, but the players believed in every word of his. History of Leticia shows that sport can change the world, fulfill dreams and give a sense of freedom.