Virginie De Carne starts as the new head of junior coaching of Lempo-Volley: First interview

20.9.2020

43-year-old Virginie De Carne is Lempo Volley’s new head of junior coaching.

Lempo Volley started looking for a new head of junior coaching in June. The decicion about recruiting was done in the club’s spring meeting. The decicion was historical since there hasn’t been a separate head of junior coaching ever before working on Lempäälä’s junior volleyball.

The suitable person was found and De Carne started her work this week. Her first apperance at the court was on Wednesday at the C-girls practice at Sääksjärvi.

Head of junior coaching is a part time, fixed-period job. At the moment De Carne will be working for the end of the 2020-2021 season. Lempo Volley is meaning to continue the position for longer but for starters a one season deal was made.

De Carne is not only working for Lempo Volley but also for other parties and continues working on her own VDC Academy. 

The junior coaching leader will be working with junior teams from F to B ages.  The aim is to give advice and ideas for the club’s own coaches and to help them to develop theirselves and their team’s training system. De Carne will be attending each team’s practices separately.

At the moment De Carne is living in Kirkkonummi and comes to Lempäälä for coaching once a week. She keeps in touch with the coaches and advices them with developing their coaching. She also works on the clubs general approach to coaching.

De Carne has lived in Finland for ten years. She came to the country to be a professional volleyball player and was one of the top players in the world. As a coach she has coached juniors as well as one season in LP Kangasala’s team who played in the women’s Mestaruusliiga.

Lempo Volley’s chairman Harri Montonen is glad that the club found a true professional who really knows the sport.

– It is fantastic that we were able to recruit ”Viri”. She is one of the best people in Finland for this position if not the best. I’m waiting to see Lempo Volley’s already high-quality junior coaching to once again get to a whole new level. The contract with Viri is for this season but if both parties are pleased, I don’t see why we wouldn’t make this a longer project.

The position is new and the recruiting process was not quite simple, Montonen imparts.

– This is a historical opportunity for improving our club since this is the first time a head of junior coaching will be working in Lempäälä.

– The recruiting process as a whole was difficult. We offered the position already in early spring but didn’t get much applications. There were two people who we discussed with but both fell through for different reasons. De Carne didn’t apply for the position herself. Instead we contacted her, so she was head-hunted.

De Carne is excited to start at Lempo-Volley and ready for a new challenge. She tells that she will be permanently staying in Finland.

– I’m very happy to be here in Lempäälä. The main thing when training young players is for them to be able fall in love with volleyball and discover how magical it can be. I want to give back to the sport that I love so much myself, says De Carne.

FIRST INTERVIEW

Virginie De Carne interviewed: ”I’m getting a great vibe from the club.”

Lempo-Volley’s new head of junior coaching is 43-year-old Belgian Virginie De Carne. She was one of the world’s best opposite hitters when she played professionally. She came to Finland in 2009 to play for LP Viesti at Salo.

De Carne, also known as Viri tells about her playing career, thoughts about coaching, what she knows about Lempo-Volley and her visions for the club in a Lempo Media interview.

De Carne is from Roeselare, Belgium. She says she is from a small village where besides Belgium’s favourite sport football it was possible to also play volleyball.

In the age of 11 she ended up playing volleyball. She liked the sport and the rest is history.

– I was a sporty kid. Along with volleyball I played basketball, handball, did track and field and swimming.

De Carne’s professional career started in Italy but her first steps were taken in Belgium where she was semi-pro. She dreamt about going pro in Italy. She is a lefty and her position was opposite hitter.

– My mother made the deals in Belgium. I got 25 euros a month that I used to rent a space for practising to someday be able to get to Italy, recalls De Carne.

Amazing career abroad

Practice was three times a week in Belgium which didn’t feel like enough for the young player. She was chosen as the best player in the Belgium league very young. The transfer to Italy came when she was 19.

– I was playing a game in Italy, and that’s how I was found there.

In Italy De Carne played multiple seasons in different clubs. From there she continued to Tenerife.

– I played there for one season. It was a good one and I would’ve liked to be there longer. We had really great team spirit in that seasons team.

After Spain came Switzerland and Zurich. In there her team made it to top four in the Champions league.

– That was my ticket to Russia, De Carne remembers.

After two seasons in Russia she transferred to LP Viesti in 2009 and played there for two seasons.

– In 2009 my agent was asking around the top-5 clubs in Finland if Viri could come and play. Only Salo was interested. They called if I really was that De Carne and if I really wanted to come play.  

–  Then they offered a lot of money from Russia to Salo that I would transfer back to Russia. I asked what they would like to do at LP Viesti since it would have been a good opportunity for them. But they wanted to keep me and I also wanted to stay.

After winning two Finland’s championship golds and the female player of the year in 2011, De Carne quit her playing career. She did actually make a come back once and played a season in Italy 2012-2013. After that she hasn’t played professionally.

Do you still play volleyball?

No I don’t. I just can’t do it. I either play 100 per cent on or not at all, De Carne says.

In her playing career she truly was one of the top players in the world and definitely the most successfull volleyball player who has ever played in Finland. Her records are impressive: to name a few, most points made as a female in Champions league, best setter in the CEV cup and Italy’s league, best player not only in Belgium but also in Switzerland and most points made in the 2009 European championships.

Getting into coaching

Even though De Carne’s playing career was great, coaching is a different thing. Of course experience from playing helps to understand the game and De Carne has worked with multiple top coaches.

After quitting De Carne worked as Salon Viesti’s junior manager for a while. She has worked a lot with juniors: she does coaching through her own VDC Academy. She participates in Southwest Finland’s junior highschool camps and has her own popular junior camps in Varala.

She was also LP Kangasala’s women’s Mestaruusliiga team’s head coach for the 2016-2017 season. At first De Carne was supposed to have a three year project.

– It was an interesting year. In Kangasala we had three different groups practicing in the morning. First the ones who had other jobs, then students and then foreigners. That year taught me a lot. Things that were normal to me came as a bit of a shock for others, tells De Carne meaning that not everyone were obviously able to just play pro in Finland.

What is coach De Carne like compared to player De Carne?

– As a player I was often captain of the team. A fighter who never gave up. I was a team player but wasn’t afraid to be loud and open my mouth. I also showed my excitment when I succeeded, De Carne recalls.

– As a coach I’m very different. I needed to kill the player inside of me and it was difficult. I know how training feels since I played too. I’m still demanding but I’ve grown as a coach.

Lempo-Volley juniors are easy to spot

What do you know about Lempo-Volley at the moment?

– I’ve got a great vibe from the club at least by observing them in action. The vibe is happy and welcoming. Their players are happy and I can always notice Lempo-Volley juniors at camp when they arrive.

De Carne started as head of junior coaching this week and attended her first practise on Wednesday.

– I’m very happy to be here and start.

– At first I want to get to know the place an find different places to train at, describes De Carne. She lives in Kirkkonummi, and travels to Lempäälä for practice.

De Carne likes Lempo’s style where she supports and helps especially coaches to improve and that way make the training and help that the junior’s will get better.

– I like the idea that I coach coaches. I think it is a great consept.

– I want the coaches to feel like they can get better and that I can give them more. At the same time I think that the atheletes will notice the difference. I do also want to see some results at some point.     

The important thing is especially helping young age groups and new coaches.

– E and F ages are very important. Their coaches are usually still beginners. I want to help them get started and to feel that coaching is actually easy.

– One coach already messaged me saying that he has only just started. I let her know that I’m here to help.

To become a better person

We have gotten to know Viri’s player career, views on coaching and thoughts about Lempo-Volley. Now let’s get into some more philosophical things.

Why is volleyball a good hobby for a child?

–  Volleyball is a fun team sport and a way to get new friends. Everyone can play it and you can really see yourself improving.

What is the most important thing about coaching juniors?

– The most important and the greatest thing is that the juniors are also becoming better people. They are able to fall in love with volleyball and discover how magical it can be. They have respect, feel like they belong, get good experiences and improve.

– In my coaching it’s also important that I get to give back to the sport I love so much. Volleyball has been a very important part of my life and I love to be able to give my part back with the youth, describes De Carne.

De Carne tells that she is going to stay permanently in Finland. Speaking with the juniors and the coaches is so called finglish, meaning a mix of Finnish and English.

– I speak seven different languages but Finnish is definitely the hardest language in the world. I undestand a lot of it and speak some. My grammar on the other hand is quite funny and with English I can add more emotion to talking, laughs De Carne.

Uutisartikkeli suomeksi / news article in Finnish

Haastatteluartikkeli suomeksi / interview in Finnish

Article:  Antti Raunio
Translation: Kaisa Raunio
Photos: Antti Raunio
Video: Antti Raunio