NEW: Swiss Volleyball League 2012/2013

    Quote from quimporte

    I’m not saying if I agree or not with VFM (well, in fact I agree), but one thing is sure: not anyone has the right to complain about that team because its President doesn’t want to sign the gentlemen’s agreement. VFM was in NLB when the LNA teams decided to sign it and these have not the right to assert that agreement as an accomplished fact to all the others. No team has the obligation to sign it since it is only an agreement amongst consenting parts. An agreement that thereto serves only SwissVolley’s interests. This clearly means that the teams that are tempted to put VFM under pressure and refuse to play against them will lose there game by forfeit. That’s called boycott and I’m not sure that SwissVolley’s regulation allows that. Or does it?


    I do not agree with your « excuse » ! “ VFM was in LNB, last year”. Volley Geneve too, but accept and sign this “Gentlemen’s agreement”.


    Their manner is not fair at all. If you have a look at their “homepage”, they are so proud to announce with their new trainer to have a “formateur”, and moreover, national junior trainer. In charge of LNA team, studies-sports & formation center !


    For which formation-center ? American, Brazilian or Swiss players ?


    Boycott ? why not, but this way is very “tought” for the players.

    I was not saying it as an excuse. But the fact is that any team has the right not to accept that agreement, even if a vast majority of the rivals is committed to having at least one Swiss player on the court. It's as simple as that. So why denunciate VFM because that club has a different point of view. If SwissVolley doesn't want to let the teams take their own decision, then the Federation should simply take its responsibilities and get its way. It's just a question of pragmatism.


    I won't judge VFM's formation program, as I don’t know it. But I guess that they will probably instruct Swiss talents as well. So let’s give them a few years before criticizing. And anyway, it’s not forbidden to instruct foreign players as well. Voléro does it the same and no one complains. And would Florian Steingruber have accepted his new function as VFM’s head coach if he was not sure to instruct Swiss players? Not sure at all.


    And last but not least, I would not be so surprised if some teams would appoint a Swiss player to the libero position. That would be a very hypocritical way to respect that famous gentlemen’s agreement.

    Quote from quimporte

    ...


    And last but not least, I would not be so surprised if some teams would appoint a Swiss player to the libero position. That would be a very hypocritical way to respect that famous gentlemen’s agreement.

    Then maybe you're suprised, that the libero is not part of the agreement anymore :whistle: ! There has to be at least one Swiss Player on the court, except the libero. That's new for this season's agreement ...

    Preliminary round
    Exempted: VBC Voléro Zürich


    Pool A
    Volley Köniz vs. VBC Biel-Bienne 3:0 26:24 25:23 25:14
    FKB Volley Düdingen vs. VBC Biel-Bienne 3:0 25:18 25:9 25:13
    FKB Volley Düdingen vs. Volley Köniz 3:0 25:20 25:21 25:22


    Ranking:
    1. FKB Volley Düdingen 4 (6:0)
    2. Volley Köniz 2 (3:3)
    3. VBC Biel-Bienne 0 (0:6)


    Pool B
    Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes vs. Sagres Neuchâtel UC 3:2 20:25 23:25 25:21 25:19 15:8
    Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen vs. Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes 3:2 19:25 18:25 25:16 25:17 15:8
    Sagres Neuchâtel UC vs. Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen 3:1 20:25 25:23 25:22 25:20


    Ranking:
    1. Sagres Neuchâtel 2 (5:4)
    2. Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes 2 (5:5)
    3. Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen 2 (4:5)


    Pool C
    Genève Volley vs. VBC Cheseaux 3:1 26:24 25:15 17:25 25:10
    VC Kanti Schaffhausen vs. Genève Volley 3:0 25:18 25:19 25:19
    VC Kanti Schaffhausen vs. VBC Cheseaux 3:2 25:17 25:12 19:25 23:25 15:10


    Ranking:
    1. VC Kanti Schaffhausen 4 (6:2)
    2. Genève Volley 2 (3:4)
    3. VBC Cheseaux 0 (3:6)


    Classification games 5-10
    VBC Biel-Bienne vs. VBC Cheseaux 3:1 25:22 23:25 25:23 27:25
    Volley Köniz vs. Genève Volley 3:0 25:19 25:18 25:18
    Volley Köniz vs. Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes 3:1 25:19 16:25 25:23 25:18
    Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen vs. VBC Biel-Bienne 3:0 25:16 25:15 25:15
    Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen vs. VBC Cheseaux 3:0 25:15 25:23 25:12
    Genève Volley vs. Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes 3:1 25:18 10:25 25:17 25:19


    Ranking:
    5. Volley Köniz
    6. Genève Volley
    7. Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes
    8. Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen
    9. VBC Biel-Bienne
    10. VBC Cheseaux


    Semi-finals 1-4
    Sagres Neuchâtel UC vs. FKB Volley Düdingen 3:2 21:25 25:16 25:23 24:26 16:14
    VBC Voléro Zürich vs. VC Kanti Schaffhausen 3:0 26:24 25:16 25:21


    Finals
    1-2
    VBC Voléro Zürich vs. Sagres Neuchâtel UC 3:1 25:22 25:21 22:25 25:22


    3-4
    VC Kanti Schaffhausen vs. FKB Volley Düdingen 3:1 25:15 21:25 31:29 25:22


    Final ranking
    1. VBC Voléro Zürich
    2. Sagres Neuchâtel UC
    3. VC Kanti Schaffhausen
    4. FKB Volley Düdingen
    5. Volley Köniz
    6. Genève Volley
    7. Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes
    8. Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen
    9. VBC Biel-Bienne
    10. VBC Cheseaux

    After the just finished Supercup, one thing is sure: the upcoming season will be very balanced. It’s not a surprise, VBC Voléro Zürich is again the great favorite and should win the championship. But they must pay close attention and not to think that it will be that easy neither. The fight for the places that assure a participation to the European cups will be very, very hot. Volley Köniz and VC Kanti Schaffhausen that occupy regularly the top of the national classification will have to fight very hard to keep that honor. Köniz didn’t feel good this week-end and finished with a bad 5th place. New comer Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes and its powerful American delegation is clearly one of the favourites as well as Sagres Neuchâtel UC that hosts half of the Swiss National Team and has two great U.S. All-American players. VFM’s (7th) very bad classification at the Supercup this week-end is a bit surprising. Neuchâtel’s 2nd place hides a quite irregular course. They have one more week to be ready for the first championship game. FKB Volley Düdingen will certainly be the big surprise of that upcoming championship and Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen risks to be slightly behind that group. The fight against relegation will mainly concern Genève Volley, VBC Cheseaux and VBC Biel-Bienne. Genève finished the Supercup with a good 6th place but Bienne (9th) and Cheseaux (10th) unfortunatly confirmed their comparative weekness. Am I underestimating Genève Volley? Prospects can evolve in conjunction with hypothetical transfers and injuries.

    Budgets for the NLA teams
    In CHF. Global club budgets might be higher.


    VBC Voléro Zürich: 900.000¹ (CEV Champions League not included) / 11 foreign players
    Volley Köniz: 500.000¹ (European Cup included) / 6
    Sagres Neuchâtel UC: 300.000³ / 2
    VBC Cheseaux: 135.000¹ / 3
    VC Kanti Schaffhausen: 450.000¹ (European Cup included) / 6
    Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen: 300.000¹ / 4
    VBC Biel-Bienne: 100.000¹ / 2
    FKB Volley Düdingen: 200.000¹ / 6
    Hôtel Cristal VFM: 200.000¹ / 7
    Genève Volley: 120.000¹ / 4


    Sources:
    ¹SwissVolley Guide 2010/2011
    ²Source: Télévision Suisse Romande, 26.9.2010

    Quote from frublic

    lets wait and see first what our great and strong federation will discuss at the nla conference 24.9 ......

    And what decided our great and strong Federation? That’s exactly how the Chinese talk about their dear Government.


    Just a question for you Frublic. Do you play tennis at R7 or R8 level in SH?

    Quote from frublic

    R5 maybe R4 again...hahahaha, you want to play?

    Nope, thank you. I’m not even R100. And I don’t play tennis anyway. I’m probably better in Scrable ;-)


    Did you attend the Supercup? What’s your feeling?

    yes I followed the tournament - it looks like all teams have stronger compositions, but the level of play is not referring to that fact...also the supercup did not show anything of a nice tournament with all women teams, no public attending the games, and playing in 2 gyms also splitted the togetherness and athnosohere..did not like that part much...

    Quote from frublic

    yes I followed the tournament - it looks like all teams have stronger compositions, but the level of play is not referring to that fact...also the supercup did not show anything of a nice tournament with all women teams, no public attending the games, and playing in 2 gyms also splitted the togetherness and athnosohere..did not like that part much...

    Yes, right. Stronger teams but fluctuant level of the games. There’s one more week to rectify that.


    Just women, that’s OK with me. But actually, what a poor attendance, you’re right. There were not even 50 spectators! But honestly, these gyms are totally inappropriate for professionnal sports. The courts (in Lerbermatt) are so crappy and the removable benches that were installed so shitty. OZK was a bit better but even that gym does not fit for LNA games. Every third ball touches the ceiling.


    And when Sara Schüpbach got injured, there was not even an emergency doctor in the gym. I hope that one day SwissVolley will understand that pro volleyball players can’t be treated like pupils and pro volleyball need descent venues as well. In Bern they have the Wankdorf hall that would have been perfect.


    Well, at least I’m looking forward for the championship games that will be very disputed this season. Who do you think has the nicest venue in Switzerland?

    Very bad news for Sara Schüpbach. The player from Sagres Neuchâtel UC that harmed herself during the Super Cup is out for the whole season. She unfortunately suffers from torn knee ligaments on her left leg.

    VBC Voléro Zürich: Strategy: Educate young national and foreign players with high potential. Aim: Win the Swiss Championship and Cup. Reach the European Champions League play-off.


    Volley Köniz: Aim: Reach the Championship final.


    Sagres Neuchâtel UC: Aim: Reach the Championship semifinals.


    VBC Cheseaux: Aim: Reach the Championship play-off.


    VC Kanti Schaffhausen: Aim: Reach the Championship semifinals.


    Sm’Aesch Pfeffingen: Aim: Reach the Championship semifinals.


    VBC Biel-Bienne: Aim: Reach the Championship play-off.


    FKB Volley Düdingen: Aim: Reach the Championship play-off.


    Hôtel Cristal VB Franches-Montagnes: Aim: Reach the Championship final.


    Genève Volley: Aim: Remain in NLA.

    VBC Glaronia Glarus has officialized the contract with two Slovak players. As already reported on Inside-Volley, Veronika Tomšíková (PVK Přerov, Czech Rep.) and Katarína Pozorová (TJ Spoje Bratislava, Slovakia) have joined the team of Canton Glarus for the upcoming NLB season. They are both part of the best beach volleyball players in their country.

    Indoor Volleyball Frauen


    Gentlemen’s Agreement doch noch unterzeichnet


    Morgen Samstag starten die NLA-Clubs in die neue Volleyball-Saison. Entgegen ersten Aussagen wird der Aufsteiger VFM Volleyball Franches-Montagnes das Gentlemen’s Agreement
    für die Saison 2010/11 doch unterzeichnen.


    In letzter Minute hat der Vorstand von VFM Volleyball Franches-Montagnes doch noch entschieden das Gentlemen’s Agreement zu unterzeichnen. Damit verpflichten sich alle NLA-Clubs in den Meisterschaftsspielen mindestens immer einen Schweizer Spieler bzw. eine Schweizer Spielerin auf dem Spielfeld einzusetzen. Der Libero ist von dieser Regel ausgenommen.
    An der NLA-Konferenz vom 24. September konnte noch keine Einigung erzielt werden. Laut VFM Volleyball Franches-Montagnes war die Polemik im Vorfeld der NLA-Konferenz schuld, dass es zu keiner Lösung kam.
    Die sportliche Leitung von Swiss Volley ist sich bewusst, dass es vor allem für die finanzschwächeren Clubs nicht immer einfach ist, Spielerinnen mit NLA-Niveau zu halten bzw. unter Vertrag zu nehmen. Nach wie vor ist man von Verbandsseite aber von der positiven Wirkung des Gentlemen’s Agreements überzeugt. Darum ist man erleichtert, dass das Agreement auch in der Saison 2010/11 uneingeschränkt umgesetzt werden kann.


    Das Gentlemen’s Agreement


    Aufgrund des Personenfreizügigkeits-Abkommens mit der EU aus dem Jahr 2002 ist es Sportverbänden nicht mehr erlaubt, für EU-Bürger Ausländerbeschränkungen in Meisterschaften zu verhängen. Aus praktischen Gründen und weil im 2003 die Mehrheit der Ausländer im Schweizer Volleyball ohnehin aus Europa kamen, hatte Swiss Volley die Grenzen auf die Saison 2003/04 für alle Nationen geöffnet und dem Markt freie Hand gelassen. Dies hatte zur Folge, dass in den folgenden Saisons vor allem bei den NLAFrauen-Teams kaum noch Schweizerinnen zum Einsatz kamen. Für den erfolgreichen Betrieb der Nationalteams und für die Entwicklung des Schweizer Volleyballsports erachtet es die Verbandsleitung aber
    als wichtig, dass möglichst viele Schweizer Spieler in der obersten Liga agieren. Darum wurde 2007 der NLA-Konferenz ein Gentlemen’s Agreement vorgeschlagen und von den Clubs auch umgesetzt. Wie der Name sagt, handelt es sich dabei um eine freiwillige Abmachung unter den NLA-Teams, sich für den Einsatz von mindestens einer Schweizer Spielerin bzw. einem Schweizer Spieler auf dem Feld zu verpflichten.


    :kiss:

    Oh come on!!!
    Don’t tell me that VFM suddenly changed its mind. Obviously, the dictatorial regime has a shiny future. Today, one thing is sure, in the tiny little Swiss volleyball world, it’s not allowed to have a different point of view than the Federation and, obviously, some influential club managers. VFM finally signed the "voluntary" (some people should check what voluntary exactly means) gentlemen’s agreement that obliges the teams that signed it (voluntarily of course) to have permanently at least one Swiss player on the court (excepted libero). This is an intolerable interference in the club teams business.