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Reflections on the Novotel Cup

One week on from the 33rd Novotel Cup in Luxembourg, our Coaches and Captains reflect on the experience:


Andrei Molnar | Head Coach Men

The Novotel Cup was an opportunity to test our Senior teams preparation ahead of the Small Countries Association Championships later in 2023. In our opening match against the tournament hosts Luxembourg, we struggled badly to deliver the level of performance we now demand from the guys. This was a very early setback and rocked the morale within the team. We were able to bounce back and deliver a better performance against Germany after a very honest Team meeting which grounded everyone back to the reality of our performance goals and objectives. It is extremely gratifying to see our young boys hard work and commitment beginning to show on the court against the larger Volleyball Nations. All of us on the staff feel very proud of them and can’t wait to get back into training camp and use this experience to drive the standards even higher. I wish to thank Fédération Luxembourgeoise de Volleyball for taking care of us and given everyone a memorable weekend of high-level Volleyball and as always, Volleyball Ireland for supporting us, all this is built with work, smiles and tears. That is why all is worth it.


Gareth Gilmartin | Men’s Captain

The Novotel Cup was a great experience for all of us! After a very shaky start against the home nation Luxembourg, the squad regrouped and put on a more passionate display against the German and English teams. We left Luxembourg knowing we never moved out of second gear the whole tournament so there is definitely things we need to work on over the next few months.


Mark Delahunty | Head Coach Women

After a very intense weekend of volleyball we are back on home soil. Some great progress made on and off the court but also some missed opportunities and a lot for us to work on. However an amazing experience for the girls to compete at that level. We look forward to more in the future. Special thanks to Volleyball Ireland and FLVB for making it happen. To our physio Laura Power for keeping the bodies together. To Hannah Thornton our performance nutritionist for getting the girls prepared. To Maja and Edyta for the work they did with the girls but particularly to Torsten and every one in Volleyball Luxembourg for the opportunity and the excellent conditions. We look forward to being on court there again in May for the Small Countries.


Emily Frazell | Women’s Captain

It was a great experience for the whole squad. We had 8 first senior caps on our team this weekend which is huge! We came up against some big teams, and learned so much as part of this process. We fought hard through each point, and I’m looking forward to continuing to set the bar higher for ourselves each time we go away. Éire Abú!


Gary Stewart | VLY. Chief Executive

It was an honour and privilege to see how well our teams represent our Federation both on court and off. Our players and coaches are brilliant role models and ambassadors for Volleyball Ireland. One thing lots of people from other nations commented was how proud the Irish players are to represent their country and how together they are as a team, this is a huge compliment for our coaches and team leaders.  I’d like to thank the FLVB for the invitation and for putting on a top class show, they are the benchmark. And of course, our brilliant supporters who travel so well. It is great to now have a proper back room team with physio, nutritionist and statistician contributing to both teams preparations as Team Ireland. The build continues!

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