When the pandemic broke out in early 2020, volleyball player Alexander Berger was a professional in Piacenza in northern Italy – practically in the European corona epicenter. Two years later, when war broke out in the Ukraine, Aichkirchner, who had meanwhile moved to Radom in Poland, was closer to another crisis than the father of the family would have liked. “But I didn’t really feel much of the refugee movement,” says the 33-year-old about the city of around 200,000 inhabitants, which is around three hours’ drive from the border with Ukraine.
He did notice more cars with Ukrainian license plates on the streets and “the club’s old stadium was converted into a refugee camp,” reports Berger. In addition, a teammate organized a bus to send relief supplies that were collected within the team to a friend in Ukraine. Young father Berger participated with utensils for children. “A lot of them are needed.”
Mixed season
After missing the Polish play-offs – Radom was penultimate – the time of the ÖVV national team player in Radom comes to an end. The attacker speaks of a mixed season in which the team fell short of its potential. For example, a promising victory over Warsaw in January was followed by a corona outbreak, “after two weeks of quarantine we practically started from scratch again,” says Berger, who also went through a trough personally. In addition to symptoms of overload in the knee, intervertebral disc symptoms suddenly made themselves felt again. “I was pretty upset,” he was reminded of his disc surgery three years ago. At that time, the impairments were so severe that he could no longer stand on his toes or heels. However, the doctor who had performed the procedure at the time was able to reassure Berger: The scar tissue that had formed at the time would lead to the symptoms that are now appearing.
Since Radom fell short of expectations, a cut is now being made. In addition to coach Jakub Bednaruk, four players are said to be leaving the club. Below is Berger. “I want to keep playing in Poland. Mainly because I’m not really happy with my performance and I want to prove that I can do better.” After Austria, France (Nantes), Italy (Padua, Perugia, Piacenza) and Turkey (Ankara), Poland is the fifth European league in which Berger earns his money. Because of the professionalism and the level of performance, he sees the Polish Plus League at about the same level as the Italian Serie A, which is often referred to as the strongest volleyball league in the world.
Berger, who is currently enjoying his Easter vacation in Austria, does not stress about finding a new club. Talks with new clubs are ongoing “and I rarely signed a contract before May”.
Kroiss in the relegation battle
Berger is not the only Upper Austrian volleyball legionnaire: Paul Buchegger from Pichlingen is currently playing for fifth place in Turkey with Spor Toto. And for Ennser Libero Philipp Kroiss, Cambrai is about staying up in the top tier of France.
Source: Nachrichten
