Fortuna 2009/2010 Squad presentation

First of all let me just say that I from now on will be writing my volleyball comments in English. The fact that my girlfriend and several of the players on my team can't read Danish and the coaches and families in the States who has sent their players to Denmark will now also have a chance to follow our season.

It is time to present the squard for the season 2009/2010 in Fortuna. At this moment the squad is 17 players deep, and the following 2 weeks or so will be spend on cutting it down to 14. 12 players in the match squad and 2 spots for talents.

Setters:
- Dorthe Windeleff is with her many years of elite volleyball and national team experience the obvious 1. setter on our team. I feel extremly blessed as a 27 year old coach to have had the chance to work with 2 of the best setters in Denmark. Dorthe is one of those setters, and I am excited to see what she can bring the team.
Dorthe is a transfer from DHG.

- Sophie Jørgensen is our young talent on the setter position. Sophie comes from the clubs own youth team and has a promissing future in volleyball. Sophie is to practise with the 1st team but will play the main part of her matches on the clubs 2nd and youth team.

- Saori Mizuno has due to backproblems been forced to cut back on her practise hours this season. She will therefore be playing backup setter and middleblocker, which are the two positions that she is able to play at the moment.
With her high level of integrity and skill she will be a dominating player as middleblocker I am sure, and she is more than competent to step in as setter if needed. Saori has played for the Japanese national team earlier.

Middleblockers:
- Saori Mizuno is one of our aces on this position and I have already talked about her abilities on court.

- Juliane Daugaard played her first full season as an elitedivision player last year and did really well. Her game has developed a lot and she is a sure starter on our national team. If Juliane can keep her momentum going and stay focussed this could be the year where she brakes through as the amazing middle her talent gives promisses of. Working with the 1st setter Dorthe, I feel confident that Juliane will develope her game even more.

- Jane Diederichsen is a transfer from DHG. With her experience from many years of division volleyball she will fully be capable of competing for a starting position as a middleblocker.

- Mie Maimann Møller is another of the young talents on the squad this year. Mie as been called up for national team matches this season, and even though she still has a long way to go, Mie is one of the very promissing middleblockers in the country. Mie will be practising with the 1st team, but will play the main part of her matches for the 2nd and youth team.

Outside hitters:
- Katherine Whitney was MVP last season in both the cup final and was awarded the same titel by the other players in the league as the most valuable player in the elitedivision. Katherine is expected to be a leader on the team this year. With her experience from playing 2 years in Denmark and 1 year in Croatia on top of her many years of volleyball in the States, Katherine will be a very valuable addition to the squad this coming season. Katherine is a tranfer from Holte IF.

- Kristen Karlik is a new American player in Denmark. Kristen played club volleyball and college volleyball with Katherine back in the States. She was a dominating libero in "The Big 12" conferrence in the States when she played, and she played outside hitter in club. Her main forces is obviously her passing and defence, but we are very set to bring back her hitting skills as the season progresses. Kristen is coming to Fortuna after a year and a half break from volleyball due to a back injury.

- Julie Pedersen was on the team last year. She another one of the young players in the squad whos strongest side is her dangerous serving. This year is to make her develop even more as an outside hitter, and with Katherine and Kristen to look up to I feel this is an opportune season to take the next step. Julie will inspite of her young age be in the match squad.

- Emilie Louise Holk has decided to stay in Denmark to study and will therefore also stay on the team. Mille, as she goes by, is one of the most dedicated players in the entire league. She a fantastic player to have as a coach because with Mille you always know what you get, she has been with the team for several years, and everyone that has played Fortuna can tell that she is always good for a point or 2 with her strong serving and superb defence.

Rightside hitters:
- Eva Vennekilde is returning to the team after having given birth to a baby boy. Eva brings back a lot of experience to the team and will be competing for a starting position as the season progresses, but the first step is for her to get comfortable with the game again.

- Lise Lindø is yet another one of the young talents in the squad. Lise has played both outside and middle as a youth player here in Odense, and she looks to take the next step in to becoming one of the next dominating Danish players on the rightside position. Lise will be practising with the 1st team but will play the main part of her matches with the 2nd team.

Libero:
- Jeanette Ellekjær Hansen has returned to Odense after 2 years of not playing volleyball. The whole club is very excited to have Jeanette back who in her prime time was around the national team. With her consistant passing and fast defence, Jeanette will be able to lift this vital part of the team, and she is very dedicated to get back to her former level. However there might be some issues conserning her job, so Jeanette is still not 100% sure she will be able to play.


To complete our squad there is still 1 or 2 signings to be completed, but since these are under progress I will wait with the names for now. All I can say is that with this material, I truely feel that the sky is the limit. We have the foundation to go all the way this year, but it will take a lot of hours in the gym, and we know that the other teams are strong as well.
The team has good ball controllers, experienced and skillful setters, young talents to push themselves and their teammates, valuable experience with the returning players and powerhitters to score points on attack and serving.

To sum it all up - "I want to win gold this season"

I am as coach of this team extremly exited for the season to begin. We will be hosting Hamburg Volleyball Club on august 28th and 29th for a small tournament in Odense.
The weekend after we are going to Hamburg to play them, a Polish team, and Italian team and a French team.
Finally we are going to a tournament in France on september 16th to 20th playing against top teams from all of Europe.
That schould make us ready for the first game of the season which will be against none less that the reigning champions from Holte on september 26th. A match full of internal rivalry and with player transfers both ways over the summer it promisses to be intense.

Mini

"In time we shall overcome, with time we come to win and by time our fate is decided"