Hope and fear at the United Volleys

Dhe colorful plastic seats in the ball sports hall, of which almost 400 were still occupied when the Supercup defeated defending champion Berlin on Sunday, have to remain empty this time. Two days before the start of the volleyball Bundesliga season, the United Volleys were confronted with the news that, due to the increasing number of corona cases in Frankfurt, they would have to play their opening game against SVG Lüneburg this Saturday (7.30 p.m.) without a spectator.

Guido Heerstraß, who, coming from competitor VfB Friedrichshafen, experienced his first season as managing director of the table runner-up of the previous season, which was canceled due to the virus, was not surprised. “I watched the development with concern beforehand,” says the former handball player. However, it had also become apparent that it was difficult to lure fans to a sporting event during these times. Nevertheless, despite the considerable additional effort in the area of ​​security, the Hessians stuck to the possibility of playing in front of an audience. “We also owe that to our sponsors,” emphasizes the manager.

Will the season be over?

No one can say how much the pandemic will affect the season and whether it will even end. “You can’t really plan anything at the moment,” says Heerstraß. “We are in a constant state between hope and fear.” There was a foretaste of the effects of the virus in sporting competition before the first serve. While the VCO Berlin’s junior team, which this time again has a special license in the first division, has to pause for the time being because six talents were infected with the Covid-19 pathogen, one member of the United Volleys is also in quarantine.

The Argentine Rodrigo Quiroga, who had been hired at short notice to replace the longer outside attacker Floris van Rekom, tested positive when he landed on German soil on Saturday and is not allowed to train with his new team for another week. Since no one had direct contact with the reinforcement so far, it was assumed in the United office on Friday afternoon that nothing stood in the way of the league premiere against the North Germans. The results of our own tests, which are scheduled 48 hours before a performance, were not yet available at the time.

Unlike usual, the Lüneburgers will not arrive until the match day in order, as a club announcement says, to save an overnight stay in the Corona hotspot Frankfurt and thus reduce the risk of infection or difficulties when traveling home and onward . This means they do without the compulsory training session in the empty arena before they see their former middle blocker Noah Baxpöhler.