At 56, Vince Krawczyk should know better. Forty years since he first struck a volleyball as a pupil at Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow, he is still smitten.

How else can you explain his desire - as coach - to push Troon through another European campaign this month?

The Ayrshire side, Scotland's sole representatives in Europe this season, face Mogilev from Belarus in the second round of the women's European Challenge Cup, having received a "bye" through the first round.

Krawczyk knows that a Scottish team is unlikely to ever break into European volleyball's elite but it does not stop him treading where other Scottish teams fear.

It is not just the standard of teams that can be drawn that puts others off but the crippling expense a team can take on.

Three years ago, Troon hosted a European Cup group which included RC Villebon, a French side that had won the tournament two years previously, as well as Hameenlinna (Finland) and IF Holte (Denmark).

It cost the club in the region of £12,000 and somehow Krawczyk and his players raised the funds through such activities as supermarket bag-packing and karaoke nights. And they still found time to train up to five nights a week in preparation.

The bill will not be as much this year unless, of course, Troon make unexpected progress.  But Krawczyk's enthusiasm for involvement at this level is unquenchable.

Last season, Troon became the first Scottish team to win through a round in Europe when they beat Luxembourg's RSR Walfer in the CEV Cup over two legs but went out of the competition at the group stages in Hungary.

Krawczyk is Scotland's most successful club coach and he has even dragged his family through his obsession. His daughters Elaine, 24, and Jenny, 22, are in the Troon team and his son Alan, 28, played with Giesen in the German Bundesliga last season and currently plays with Glasgow Mets. Only his second-born, Grant (26) has escaped the game.

The coach has won a total of 11 Scottish League titles and seven Scottish Cups with three different clubs (Troon, Kyle and MCA Powerhouse) and, while acknowledging that sometimes his teams are out of their depth against some of the European opposition they have faced, he feels he owes it to his players to have the chance to rub shoulders with the best in Europe.

It is a reciprocal loyalty and his players have a tendency to stick with him over the years.

While he is a master at nurturing young talent (Troon have some of Scotland's best teenagers in their ranks), the current crop also includes Jenny Ellis, who first linked with Krawczyk as a 15 year-old at MCA 16 years ago. Another, Gillian Lyall, has been working under the coach for 13 years.

"A coach is nothing without the players," he points out, "And I have been lucky enough over the years to work with some dedicated players.

"I feel as a coach, first and foremost, you have to get to know your players really well and know what they're capable of before you make any key decisions.

"It's been said I'm an unconventional coach but to me volleyball is a simple game. You have to keep the ball in the air when it is on your side of the net and you have to try and get it on the floor on the other side.

"Playing in Europe is a reward for the players, for the commitment they have shown to me and I always feel Scotland should be represented at this level."

Of course, his teams have to cut corners an attempt to cut it with the best. When coaching Kyle a few years back, Krawczyk's team flew out to Paris on the day of a match against Stade Francais and, remarkably, won the third set.

"When I held up the board to make a substitution in the fourth set, all six players came over wanting to come off, they were so exhausted," Krawczyk recalls with a smile, "It's the only time that has ever happened to me in volleyball and perhaps I did ask too much of them."

RM
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