Alberda, Yop

Gaming career. Start Coaching

Jop Alberda graduated from the Academy of Physical Education : in his own words, he studied the works of Soviet specialists in the field of physical training and physical education ^[1] . In his youth, he was engaged in gymnastics, football and volleyball, focusing on the latter sport, however, as a player he did not achieve high successes in volleyball, limiting himself to matches in Eredivisie for the Lycurgus and Donitas clubs in Groningen - the Dutch championship at that time was one of the the weakest ^[1] . He began his coaching career in 1985, after meeting with U.S. national team coach Doug Beale who won the gold of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics . Under the leadership of Bill Alberd, he began his work as a physical education teacher, later becoming a coach of university and youth teams ^[3] .

Netherlands Volleyball Coach

In 1986-1990, a team led by Alberda reached the finals of the Netherlands volleyball championship, and since the late 1980s he became an assistant coach of the Netherlands national team, working a lot with Doug Beale in the Italian club Mediolanum from Milan, which he trains. In 1994, he became the head coach of the Netherlands national team, succeeding Ari Selinger , who led the team to silver medals in Barcelona in 1992 : in 1996, the team not only won the World League , but also won gold medals in the Atlanta Olympics: in the semi-finals, the Dutch defeated The Russian national team , which was coached by Vyacheslav Platonov ^[1] , was 3-0, and in the final, they defeated Italy 3-3. The sensational victory was recognized by the Dutch public as one of the main events not only in the Dutch sport, but also in the history of the Netherlands for the entire XX century. At the end of the year, Alberda received the prize of the best coach according to the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) ^[3] .

Netherlands Olympic Committee

After a successful mission in Atlanta, Yop Alberda resigned as a coach, deciding that he would not achieve more in volleyball as a coach ^[1] . He became the technical director of the Netherlands Olympic Committee , having worked there in 1997-2004 and was responsible for the development of all Olympic sports in the country, from training players and coaches to building facilities and setting up programs. The Perfomance 2000 program, developed by Alberda, helped the Dutch win 25 medals in Sydney in 2000 ; in Sydney and Athens, he combined the position of technical director and responsible for all teams in 35 sports (including football) ^[1] . He also worked in the International Olympic Committee and in the Dutch club volleyball in 1997-1998 ^[1] . In 2006-2010 - Technical Director of the Netherlands Volleyball Federation.

Russian national football team

In 2006, Yop Alberda was appointed general manager of the Russian national football team , which was then coached by Guus Hiddink ^{[4] [5]} . Alberda met Hiddink when he worked in the Netherlands volleyball team, but had not worked with him before, limiting himself to the exchange of experience in the field of sports achievements. Alberda’s responsibility included the introduction of modern technologies for the analysis and tactical analysis of matches, as well as work with the Russian Football Union on sports medicine, the organization of training and nutrition ^[1] . However, in 2007, Alberda left the Russian team after several scandals ^[4] .

The first “miss” of Alberda was the choice of base in November 2006 to prepare the team for the matches of the qualifying tournament of the European Championship 2008 . Alberda chose the "Green Grove" sanatorium in Sochi , where the team was supposed to stay from November 10 to 13, but Hiddink frankly did not like the sanatorium for the low quality of service and inconvenience. The coach immediately ordered the sanatorium to be changed to the Radisson Lazurnaya hotel, and his request was immediately fulfilled by the Russian Football Union ^[4] . Alberda made a second mistake before the match of the Russian team against the Republic of Macedonia , when he was supposed to give Hiddink a DVD recording of the previous match of the Macedonians, recorded by the press officer of the Russian team Ilya Kazakov , but lost it. The situation was saved by TV commentator Viktor Gusev , who handed the coveted disc to Hiddink in Sochi. After that, work ceased with Alberda ^[5] .

In October 2014, he was included in the Volleyball Hall of Fame ^[3] . In 2016, he worked as technical director of the Royal Netherlands Swimming Federation ^[6] .

A father of two, lives in Winkeveen . While working as a volleyball coach, he refused to move to Italy, because he wanted to pay more attention and time to his family ^[1] .

• I.Ya. Rabiner . Our football Russia. - M .: Olma Media Group, 2008 .-- 480 p. - 25,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-373-02216-3 .
• I.Ya. Rabiner . Dick Lawyer and Guus Hiddink. The incredible adventures of the Dutch in Russia. - M .: Astrel, 2012 .-- 512 p. - 4000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-271-42533-2 .