Al Darmaki: The Preseason Camp of Al Ain Volleyball Meets the Boss Aspirations

H.E. Abdullah Jumaa Al Darmaki, Vice Chairman of Al Ain Sports Games Club, emphasized that the team’s preseason camp being organized this season is different from other previous ones. He stated: “The arrangements for this season is different due to the addition of the Super Cup Tournament and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council Preseason Tournament scheduled to be held next November. These changes led us to adjust the duration of the away preseason camp to match the new dates.”

Al Darmaki added: “The plan of the current season has two phases. The first phase kicked off with the home preseason camp, and the second one is the away camp. The first phase started on 1st August and lasted for three weeks. The two-week second phase has been kicked off in Poland and is dedicated to preparing the team for the coming new season which starts on 13th September by the Super Cup match. The team will play their first match in the Vice President’s Cup, and then they are scheduled to participate in the preseason tournament hosted by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council where five teams from Abu Dhabi along with other three continental teams will take part in. Then, the team will kick off the third stage by playing in the General Volleyball League and the President’s Cup.”

Al Darmaki commented on signing the new head coach of the team by saying that the tea had a great and the team was able to win all the titles following playing in all the final matches of the past season. “Despite being qualified to all the final matches, we just won the league only. The achievement did not meet our aspirations, and this is why we decided to bring a new head coach on board and bring new blood to the team to achieve the aspirations of the loyal Ainawi fans.”

As for the criteria adopted to sign with Greece Iwan to assume his responsibilities as the head coach of the team, he said: “Iwan had been on the radar of Al Ain Club in the past two years, but we were not lucky enough to sign him being one of the club’s options. However, joining an Arab league in the previous period gave him an added value as he is accustomed to the Arab mentality and gained good knowledge about the nature of the Arab player. This makes it easy for him to assume his responsibilities as a head coach. It is not easy to be in charge of a non-professional team who enjoy a different mentality compared to professional players in terms of training, tactics, and way of thinking.

He signed off: “We need a very patient head coach who enjoys the qualities of long-winded policy and a significant charism to lead the team and clinch more titles.”