Volleyball: Grafinger U14 a runner-up with heart

Created: 03/20/2022, 09:00

Here the southern Bavarian runners-up are cheering: the U14 boys of TSV Grafing with (back, from left) Lukas Schäffner, Lian Halm, Jakob Mayershofer, Nick Kaupa, coach Uli Schäffner and (front) Basti Ziller and Timon Singer.

© Photo: Club

At short notice and just over a week in advance, TSV Grafing took over the organization of the South Bavarian Volleyball Championship U14 male.

With success: the youngsters became runners-up and the club showed its heart.

Grafing

– Organizer Uli Schäffner cannot understand why the retiring Mühldorfer applied for the tournament at all without having their own team in the competition.

"But then we checked the occupancy in our three gymnasiums in no time at all and organized food and drink sales that were absolutely corona-compliant."

While Schäffner, as coach of the Grafinger U14 host team against MTV Munich, conjured up a “great debut” on the record, the buttered pretzels and muffins donated by the players' parents were individually wrapped and sold over the sales counter.

Unlike the demand for pastries, however, the flow of play in Grafing came to an abrupt halt after a 10:3 lead in the first set.

"All of a sudden, negligence crept in," Schäffner only had to worry about winning the group and the targeted participation in the final after the successful Munich comeback and the 22:25 loss of a set.

“Our self-confidence was gone in the second set as well and we followed them up to 6:10.

But then the hour of Fighting Bayrisch began!”

Now Grafing started to catch up (25:20) and literally sprinted away from MTV in the decisive set (15:5).

"A real fighter's performance," Schäffner praised his protégés, who had compensated for two short-term staff absences with the sovereign 2-0 win over Neusäß at the latest.

In the duel for the group victory, the final participation and thus the ticket for the national championships on 2./3.

April against Nachrücker Dachau, the Grafinger really wanted to build on their intoxicating final sprint against MTV.

“We managed that even more clearly than expected in the first round,” the TSV trainer was amazed at the exclamation mark that Grafing's captain Lian Halm and his teammates set with the 25:15.

But maybe they were too sure of victory, because Dachau didn't surrender and led in set two with 22:18.

Here Schäffner took a timeout, awakened the fighting spirit in Grafing again and finally celebrated a 25:23 triumph including entry into the final.

There, however, SV Lohhof was a size too big for the people of Bärenstadt that day.

“You can do two super games in one day.

It's very difficult to pull off three amazing performances, and Lohhof was really good," Schäffner analyzed his team's performance-related 2-0 defeat.

“Especially in our own arena, we secretly expected more after this preliminary round, but we were a bit out of breath.

The national coach who was there must have been very impressed by some of our players, and I'm also incredibly proud of my players' success, which can be rated highly."

Schäffner's positive summary also applied to the social added value of this tournament day.

When welcoming the teams and spectators, he announced that he wanted to donate half of all sales proceeds “personally and unbureaucratically” to those suffering from the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.

Practically, 110 euros are now benefiting a refugee from Ukraine and her little son, who had to leave their home country "only with a few bags" and was taken in by the friend of a Grafinger player's mother in Baldham.

"This fate is unimaginable for me," says Schäffner, "that's why it was particularly important for us to help on this path." JULIAN BETZL