Paul Glissov is making up for lost time. After two-and-a-half years out of volleyball at a critical time in his development he is now on breaking into the Great Britain team.

After his first season back - helping Rucanor Jets to the Scottish Cup final - he has been catapulted into the GB team for the European League which reaches its climax this month [July].

Although he has seen limited court time, the Edinburgh-born player is being earmarked as one for the future as the GB team under Dutch coach Harry Brokking builds towards the 2012 Olympics in London.

At 23, he still has time on his side, but he was not part of the GB team that trained full time and played in the Dutch Pro A League last season, and admits he has some catching up to do.

“It’s been pretty tough but really enjoyable,” he says, “All of the guys have been really supportive.

“I can compete with them on court but physically and technically I’m a bit behind so I’m working hard on doing the extra training in the weights room.

“It’s a big step up from playing for Jets but they are a good team and they have helped me enormously. It was my first year back so I owe them a lot.

“I started out with City of Edinburgh and a lot of players left and when I was playing for the Scotland national team, I had to pay to play and it become more like a job than a hobby. I just didn’t enjoy it any more so I quit.

“I only got back into it because a friend wanted to try out a new sport and he tried volleyball. I went along with him and there were some Jets’ guys there and they asked me what I was doing.

“They encouraged me to go back to national team training which I did and then I started playing for Jets at the start of the season.

“I got back into the Scotland team and then there was an opportunity to go to Luxembourg with the Great Britain development team and Harry saw me there. He asked me if I’d like to join the squad and here I am now.

“I think being out the game has hindered me a little bit as I think I’d be a lot better now if I’d stuck with it. But, at the same time, it’s given me a rest from it and I’m now more enthusiastic about the sport.

“My goal at the moment is to work my way into the starting six and then take it from there. I plan to train with the team September to March and then take it from there.”

The GB team, which only started out last year after funding from UK Sport, has already beaten established European nations Denmark, Sweden, Portugal and Greece in top-level competition in recent weeks, but Glissov knows that will only mean opponents will not treat them lightly.

“I think teams are now giving us a bit more respect but everyone still wants to beat GB,” he continues, “A lot of countries think we must have a big volleyball team because we’re a big country sports-wise, but our volleyball hasn’t progressed much.

“But now we have a proper programme it can act as a catalyst and hopefully as the guys in this team get professional contracts there will be others coming through.

“It would be a dream come true to do well in the Olympics in 2012 but just for us to be able to compete on that level with these teams would be fantastic.”

Coach Harry Brokking likes what he has seen of Glissov so far but the demands of top-class volleyball mean that the player still has some hard work ahead of him.

“He is a guy who is willing to learn,” Brokking underlines, “He asks a lot and listens and has the athletic ability. We don’t have many of his height profile in our group and we need to look at how he develops.

“We have seen him getting stronger all the time. Since he joined the programme, he has put on six kilograms and that is only muscle - there is no fat on him.

“He should stay in the programme through next winter and then next summer we can make a judgement on him. Then we make a decision whether to continue with him or whether we say this is as far as he can go and we need to look for someone else.

“He is a guy who needs the chance to show what he can give us.”

RM
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