Yuri Romanò turns 26 today. And he has already won the European and World Cups, he has already entered the history of volleyball. Absurdly, he could stop playing tomorrow and his name would certainly not be forgotten. Since last summer he has been a player for Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza which has made him enjoy the SuperLega full-time. After so much apprenticeship, after so many years spent in A2 and a reserve season in Milan in the SuperLega. Ferdinando De Giorgi, technical commissioner of the national team, trusted him, summoning him for the continental review. And he replaced Giulio Pinali in the fourth set of the final against Slovenia and his left arm completely changed the game, finishing with 90% in attack. Then the World Cup… other great trials for this boy born in Monza, romantically linked to Marta and whose volleyball history began in Bollate, then Brughiero and a lot of A2. This guy is good at biding his time. And capable, managing to find in a detail, in a compliment, in a small gesture, the strength to get excited.
“The family gives me serenity, my father is like me, he taught me to keep my feet on the ground, to be patient for everything, repeating to myself that sooner or later what everyone wants from a lifetime will come. I knew how to wait, work my way up, wait for the right moment to be able to demonstrate what I had learned”.
Yuri what is left of that boy who left Bollate?
“I would say everything, I remember everything with great pleasure, together with others we enjoyed the moment without thinking too much about what could be missing. The years spent in B or A2 were fundamental for me, in all likelihood without those I would not have become who I am”.
Winning a European and then a world at 25…
“Everything is very nice, on the morning of the World Championship I realized with my partner Marta that we were celebrating with so many champions, with Simon who is an absolute legend for me and who now I am lucky enough to find him in the gym in Piacenza, I am lucky enough to play with him”.
Yuri, how important is it to have a girl like Marta by your side?
“Very, very much. We’ve been together for two years, she arrived at a very particular moment in my career and when I go home having her by my side makes me disconnect from everything, it means living anything with the right importance and transport”.
How are you in Piacenza?
“I found the ideal environment to grow without particular pressure. It’s an important place, I found a second family in this club, winning my first major trophy with a club here in Piacenza had a very special flavour”.
What does volleyball represent for you?
“Now it’s my job, over the years it has become my life. It came very gradually, my passion was football, I got passionate about playing volleyball. Actually I wanted to be a footballer, I played for eight years”.
The hardest thing for a volleyball player like you?
“Perhaps it arrives in the summer, it’s the moment that weighs on me the most because playing in the national team you don’t have holidays, you can’t live or see Marta for several months as happens during the year but the national team… it’s not a burden and if it if it were, I’m glad to have it”.
What does family mean to you?
“It is an important part, especially my parents who have always supported me even when I was away from home. Luckily, playing close to home, I often see them when there’s an important match wherever they are.”
The dream in the drawer?
“In life, creating a family that we are already thinking of building with Marta. In volleyball the Olympics, even playing it and living in that environment is a dream”.
Entertainment, hobbies…
“Given the many sporting commitments, I try to stay at home a lot with Marta and our Charlie, a dog who gives us so much joy. I used to like to spend my free time playing video games, now I prefer to dedicate myself to those around me. For the rest, a lot of sport on television, Inter and Formula One are my two great passions”.
Who do you have to say thank you to…
“The list would be long, first of all to my mother Morena who played volleyball as a girl and who, when she first understood that I didn’t improve in football but grew taller, advised me to try playing volleyball. And then to all the coaches, mine was a gradual path, I learned something every year”.
What can you tell young people…
“That you must always focus on yourself if you want to achieve a certain thing. Without being conditioned by anyone but listening only to the right people, if opinions or advice arrive, they must come from trusted people”.
Your relationship with animals.
“I love my dog Charlie, we never had one in the family, Marta liked him and I didn’t mind the idea of having a puppy dog growing up with us. As a child I had a good relationship with horses because my father was an enthusiast, together with some friends he also had a racehorse”.
What will Yuri Romanò do when he grows up?
“We’ll see… in the meantime I’m studying Economics here in Piacenza at the Cattolica, I like the idea of being able to manage something. In any case, the priority is to make Marta happy who is scarifying herself a lot for me to be close to me and therefore I will follow her wherever she needs to go for work, of one thing I’m pretty sure: don’t stay in the volleyball world as a coach”.
