Lausanne, Switzerland, January 18, 2017 – Tilo Backhaus has been given the job of ensuring that Germany’s female beach volleyball players build on their recent success after he was appointed as coach for the women’s beach volleyball programme.
Last year Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst won gold at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games to cap an exceptional four-year period in which Karla Borger and Britta Buthe won silver at the Mazury 2013, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and the likes of Ilka Semmler and Katrin Holtwick and Julia Sude and Chantal Laboureur won gold on the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.
“I am very much looking forward to shaping the teams to be major players and to create a professional environment for beach volleyball in Germany,” Backhaus said.
“We will be training athletes for the World Championships within the new structure.”
The next major challenges for Germany’s team are the Vienna 2017, FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships and the 2017 World Tour that begins with the Fort Lauderdale Major Series that runs from February 7-12.
Backhaus already has experience of coaching on the World Tour having guided Semmler and Holtwick and Victory Bieneck and Julia Grossner over the last four years.
“Tilo has already gained a lot of experience on the World Tour during the last Olympic cycle,” Dr. Andras Kunkler, vice president for beach volleyball at the German Volleyball Federation said.
“As well as being a top coach, he is set to be one of the vital figures for our athletes, with the head federation coach set to be announced soon.”