A.KOVALEV: "BEFORE STARTED BY A CLICK OF FINGERS"

DIRECT SPEECH
Diagonal Dynamo-LO Alexander Kovalev in a big and light interview. As always, about the most important thing for an athlete - volleyball and family.

- Sasha, you recently celebrated your 28th birthday. How many years out of 28 have you been playing volleyball professionally?

- Professionally from the tenth grade, from the age of 15. Before that, I went in for swimming for eight years, in the seventh grade I started playing volleyball. At first he combined - the coaches had nothing against it. In the morning I went swimming, and after school I went to volleyball.

- What style did you swim?

- Breaststroke. A frog (laughs).

- And in the end I made a choice in favor of volleyball. How did it come about?

- The husband of my first coach, Svetlana Viktorovna Okulova, is from the same area as my dad. They knew each other very well, grew up together, but they agreed to give us to volleyball only when I was in seventh grade. Why everything didn’t work out earlier, I don’t know. But better late than never, right ?!

- When you were swimming, did you have any thoughts about connecting life with the pool? Maybe he won the competition and dreamed of records?

- In fact, my and my brother's records still remain unbroken in the pool in which we were engaged. As for the thoughts of becoming a professional in swimming ... I didn't even think about it right away in volleyball, and even more so on the water.

- Did you swim with your brother?

- Of course. And basketball and volleyball too. We have a difference of only 2.5 years, we have always done everything together.

- As is often the case: there is no one to leave the younger one with, he always follows the older one. Was it like that for you too?

- Yes, like everyone else.

- Why did your parents send you to sports?

- We have a sports family, so sports were taken for granted. Dad is an athletics coach, educates sprinters. Since childhood, I went with him to training camps and camps, looked at his work. But there were no thoughts to do athletics (smiles).

- And what does mom do?

- Oh, mom has a great job now, she helps me and her daughter. Lives between Peter and Perm.

- Who helps in Ufa?

- At the moment she is helping Katya and me. But if it is necessary to help my brother's family, then my mother will go to Ufa, of course. To whom it is more important at the moment, that will help.

- Is your mom a fan of volleyball?

- Mom is our fan, and she watches volleyball only because of us, and only games with our participation!

- Let's go back to your career. At the age of 15, you signed your first professional contract.

- Yes, with a team playing in the First League. Then it was called Uralsvyazinform. It was in 2003, and I didn’t understand what was happening (laughs), I didn’t think that this is my path in life.

- What did you dream about?

- Listen, well, I didn't have such that I was going to become there ... an astronaut or a scientist. Now it seems that he planned to be a coach like dad. I looked at his work, and I liked it, sometimes he asked me to help him in something - he caught himself thinking that working with children is interesting. But then I realized that I am not particularly patient (smiles).

- Here we smoothly come to the reason for choosing a sport. Maybe it was the emotional outburst that is possible in such a team sport that attracted you to volleyball, as opposed to swimming?

- Maybe that was the reason too. There were not enough emotions in the pool. You can't shout there, you can't grab an opponent under the net. There was no adrenaline, but all the buzz was in it.

- And you look like a calm guy ...

- Now it is more difficult to provoke me, over the years I am becoming calmer. Previously, it would start at the snap of your fingers, it would break off instantly.

- Can you provoke your opponent yourself?

- When I start, no problem (laughs).

- Were there any difficulties in the first time after the transition from one sport to another? Moreover, you were moving from individual to team.

- No, there were no problems. Since childhood, I have been constantly with children, with people. With my dad at work, with my brother at home, and my parents all the time taught us to share with each other, to help in everything we can. Therefore, since childhood, I was a team guy, and there were no difficulties.

- Did you immediately enter the second zone, or did you search for your role for some time?

- They tried me as a binder. Probably half a season in the First League I passed. I remember that we came to Sterlitamak for a tour and received a prize for the best passer based on the results of this round. Then, like many others, I wanted to score and bring points to the team and ... shout loudly. But if I knew then that now there would be such problems with the ligaments, maybe I would have thought hard (laughs).

- Did you like to pass?

- More yes than no, but I liked the attack more. I was transferred to the diagonal at once, and that's it, and to the end.

- Wait, we still have a long way to go!

- (Laughs) And that's true!

- It is difficult for an ordinary fan who does not closely follow volleyball to understand how the outplayer differs from the diagonal one. Well, except for what lies on the surface - the player does not accept your role. What does the diagonal do on the court?

- The whole load on the reception lies with the outplayers, and the diagonal is obliged to score all the difficult balls. Well, everything is desirable. Correcting bad reception, and in general - carrying the main load in the attack.

- Roughly speaking, the diagonal must correct all the shoals of other roles with his attack - poor reception, not the best pass ... Right?

- Right. Plus, he should have serve, block and defense, but the last element used to be forgiven diagonally. The tall ones were definitely forgiven, the little ones were not.

- You were forgiven?

- I'm not bragging, but I think that I play quite well in defense, there are no problems with that. There is no need to force, this, by the way, is a separate thrill - to pull out a heavy ball in defense.

- According to your own feelings, what does Alexander Kovalev need to work on more?

- We need to work on everything, we must not forget about anything, if there is free time, the hall is free. There would be a time, I would work on everything, but so far it does not work out. The hall is not ours, we depend on it, unfortunately.

- Was there something in your youth that you had to work out the serve, for example?

- Yes, all the time. In Perm we had our own training hall, only ours, and at least spend the night there. Come and study at any time.

- Scheduled games in the Super League are very different from the Major League "A". Have you already played in the elite, is it easy to rebuild?

- In fact, it seems to me that the schedule in the Super League is simpler. Better to play three days later for the fourth than two days in a row. Not that it's bad, but it seems to me that the ideal schedule is to prepare this week, play on Saturday.

- Dreams.

- Yes (laughs).

- When I got to know the volleyball player Alexander Kovalev, he played in Prikamye in the Super League with his brother Dmitry. It was in the 2011/12 season - Dmitry passed, Alexander scored. How does it feel to be on the same team with a loved one?

- They understood each other without a single word, a half-glance was enough. By the way, I got into the Super League even earlier, when Evgeny Matkovsky was the first diagonal in Perm. After two years in the First League, Putin and Vikulov decided that it was time to drag me to the team of craftsmen, and they took me everywhere with them. In total, I played for Perm for nine years, then went to Odintsovo, and then to Nizhnevartovsk. Well, now I'm here at Dynamo-LO.

- If I understand everything correctly, then you helped both “Prikamyu”, and “Ugra-Samotlor”, and “Dynamo-LO” to qualify for the Super League? Do you count your medals?

- Yeah, I'm a talisman (laughs). I don't count the medals. We give all the won cups and medals together with our brother to dad. He is going to make a stand, decorated with photographs of ours and Dimka - there are game moments, and our families. She is very bored (smiles).

- You and your brother play on different teams. What do you feel when you go out to fight against him?

- I will not find the right words, this is some kind of magic or something. It's one thing to play together and help each other, for a total of seven years in the same team we spent. And against - it is completely different.

- How to beat a brother on the block?

- Do the opposite of what he thinks. The main thing is that he doesn't think the same thing (laughs).

- You came to Dynamo-LO in 2014. How were you greeted, how was the season?

- We met smartly, the people are wonderful - there is always someone to joke with, to laugh with, to talk to. Warm atmosphere, good team, this is how it happened here from year to year. In terms of the game, the championship turned out to be tough. I had two protracted seasons: if in Perm the replay ended positively, and we stayed in the Super League - there was a feeling of satisfaction, but here, although the year was not bad, the unsuccessful replay left a feeling of incompleteness and fuzziness. But the next year everything worked out.

- And now you enter the Super League again. Is this already commonplace?

- No, there is a desire to prove that I am able to play not only in the Major League "A", I want to show myself at a higher level.

- Ambitious guy Sasha Kovalev?

- I want to strive for the maximum. I am not satisfied with this approach to business, sort of like "they pay well, there is where to live, there is something to eat, a wife with a child, there is something to take out to rest for." I want more, I want to be realized in what I love. Not only get paid, but also play volleyball at a high level.

- Is volleyball not just a job?

- Well, what are you. Volleyball is the meaning of life, a real thrill. Just work ... “just work” is when you can sit in the office too.

- Do not!

- (laughs) Okay, okay, I won't.

- They say that over the years all the "delights" of sports life begin to strain - constant training, flights, nomadic lifestyle, changing time zones. How do you deal with it and what's the hardest part?

- The most difficult thing is to fall asleep. Departures to the north and east are not "further", let's say two time zones, I tolerate normally. But Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk - there are difficulties. It is almost impossible to fall asleep there. Although there are also all sorts of adaptations on this score.

- What kind?

- Tea, honey. I love herbal teas with honey very much - this is my weakness. I remember that as a child, my brother and I went to the dacha to collect all sorts of herbs, and my mother made us a variety of teas after the bath. And to this day I love it, I brew it myself.

- And coffee?

- Oh, I'm a coffee maniac.

- Wait, we just found out that you are a tea maniac.

- No, tea is relaxation. And coffee is like eating, brushing your teeth. I don’t live without coffee. Even on vacation after the season, after two or three days, it starts to break without coffee. I can stand it for a week without it. But I try to give the body rest on vacation, after all, it is not the most useful drink for the body.

- What else in life, besides volleyball, pleases Sasha Kovalev?

- Your wife is smart! How did you get into Kyrgyzstan?

- Katya is from there (smiles), was born there. There are amazing places, I fell in love with this country, now I will go there every year.

Press service of VC "Dynamo-LO"
(O. Bychenkova)

Dmitry Kovalev began to play volleyball in the Perm sports school of Alexander Tretyakov under the guidance of coach Svetlana Viktorovna Okulova. In 2008, he began to appear in the local team "Prikamye", replacing Roman Zutikov or Vladimir Vikulov on the site, in the next season he took a place in the starting lineup of the Perm team, and a year later, in 2010, he was chosen as its captain.

With the new captain of Prikamye, in two years it has gone from the major league “B”, where it ended up due to financial problems and the loss of the strongest volleyball players, to the main division of the Russian championship - the Super League. By this time, Dmitry Kovalev had already gained quite wide popularity thanks to his performances for the youth national team of Russia, in which he also served as captain's functions. In September 2010, Kovalev became the winner of the European Championship in Belarus and the winner of the prize for the best setter of the tournament, and in August 2011, as part of the youth team headed by Sergei Shlyapnikov, he won gold at the World Championship in Brazil.

In two Super League championships, Dmitry Kovalev became the best in terms of performance among setters (in the 2012/13 season, he scored 143 points in 31 matches, and in the next - 108 in 24 matches) - having a high jump, Kovalev plays strongly on the block, owns a difficult reception with a planning serve, has an excellent vision of the site, which allows you to create comfortable conditions for your attackers, and, if necessary, attack yourself.

In July 2013, as part of the Russian student team under the leadership of Sergei Shlyapnikov, Dmitry Kovalev became the winner of the Universiade in Kazan, in August he was invited by Andrei Voronkov to the collection of the national team preparing for the European Championship, then returned to Shlyapnikov in the senior youth team. In its composition, Kovalev became the silver medalist of the Cup of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in Alma-Ata and the bronze medalist of the first ever U23 World Championship in Brazilian Uberlandia, entered the symbolic team of the world championship.

In the spring of 2014, Andrei Voronkov again called Dmitry Kovalev to the Russian national team. On May 30, the captain of “Prikamye” made his debut in its line-up in the World League match with the Serbian national team in Niš, and in total took part in four games of the national team.

Meanwhile, Kovalev unilaterally tore up the contract with Prikamye, which had been in force until 2016. To continue his career, he chose Gubernia, but from the beginning of the 2014/15 season remained out of the game due to a difficult litigation between the clubs. As a result, an amicable agreement was reached, “Prikamye” agreed to a temporary transition and on January 21, 2015, Kovalev played the first match after a long break, playing for “Gubernia” in the return leg of the 1/8 finals of the Challenge Cup against Minsk “Builder”.

In June 2015, Dmitry Kovalev was the captain of the second and student teams of Russia, with whom he won a bronze medal at the European Games in Baku and gold at the Universiade in Gwangju. In August of the same year, he signed a contract with Ufa Ural for four seasons.

In October 2015, he was the main liaison of the Russian national team at the European Championship, in January 2016 he played at the European Olympic qualification in Berlin and in the second match of the tournament he suffered an ankle injury, which did not allow him to help the team in other meetings. He also took part in the 2016 World League, but in the national team's application for

Dmitry Mikhailovich Kovalev(born March 15, 1991) - Russian volleyball player, setter, player of the Russian national team, master of sports of international class.

Dmitry Kovalev began to play volleyball in the Perm sports school of Alexander Tretyakov under the guidance of coach Svetlana Viktorovna Okulova. In the 2008/09 season, he began to appear in the local team “Prikamye”, replacing Roman Zutikov or Vladimir Vikulov (the current head coach of “Prikamye”) on the site, already in the next season he took a place in the starting lineup of the Perm team, and a year later, in 2010, he was chosen as its captain.

With the new captain of Prikamye, in two years it has gone from the major league “B”, where it ended up due to financial problems and the loss of the strongest volleyball players, to the main division of the Russian championship - the Super League. By this time, Dmitry Kovalev had already gained quite wide popularity thanks to his performances for the youth national team of Russia, in which he also served as captain's functions. In September 2010, Kovalev became the winner of the European Championship in Belarus and the winner of the prize for the best setter of the tournament, and in August 2011, as part of the youth team headed by Sergei Shlyapnikov, he won gold at the World Championship in Brazil.

In two Super League championships, Dmitry Kovalev became the best in terms of performance among setters (in the 2012/13 season, he scored 143 points in 31 matches, and in the next - 108 in 24 matches) - having a high jump, Kovalev plays strongly on the block, owns a difficult reception with a planning serve, has an excellent vision of the site, which allows you to create comfortable conditions for your attackers, and, if necessary, attack yourself.

In July 2013, as part of the Russian student team under the leadership of Sergei Shlyapnikov, Dmitry Kovalev became the winner of the Universiade in Kazan, in August he was invited by Andrei Voronkov to the collection of the national team preparing for the European Championship, then returned to Shlyapnikov in the senior youth team. In its composition, Kovalev became the silver medalist of the Cup of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in Alma-Ata and the bronze medalist of the first ever U23 World Championship in Brazilian Uberlandia, entered the symbolic team of the world championship.

In the spring of 2014, Andrei Voronkov again called Dmitry Kovalev to the Russian national team. On May 30, the captain of “Prikamye” made his debut in its line-up in the World League match with the Serbian national team in Niš, and in total took part in four games of the national team.

Meanwhile, Kovalev unilaterally tore up the contract with Prikamye, which had been in force until 2016. To continue his career, he chose Gubernia, but from the beginning of the 2014/15 season remained out of the game due to a lengthy litigation between the clubs. As a result, an amicable agreement was reached and Prikamye agreed to a temporary transition. Kovalev's debut match for the Nizhny Novgorod team was the return leg of the 1/8 finals of the Challenge Cup against Stroitel, which took place on January 21, 2015.

In June 2015, Dmitry Kovalev was the captain of the second and student teams of Russia, with whom he won a bronze medal at the European Games in Baku and gold at the Universiade in Gwangju.

• Certificate of honor of the President of the Russian Federation (July 19, 2013) - for high sports achievements at the XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan.
• Laureate of the competition "Sports Elite of Prikamye-2011" in the nomination "Best Athlete of the Year in Olympic Sports".

Dmitry Kovalev's elder brother Alexander (born in 1988) is also a volleyball player, plays in the position of a diagonal striker, since 2006 played for Prikamye, in the 2013/14 season - for Iskra and Yugra-Samotlor, and in currently - for Dynamo from the Leningrad region.

Father, Mikhail Kovalev, is an athletics coach working in Perm.

1. Perm volleyball perspective. "Sports Perm" (May 18, 2009). Retrieved June 5, 2014.
2. 6 players to watch out for in the future. "Championship.com" (May 24, 2013). Retrieved June 5, 2014.
3. Vladimir Putin: "We got into debt nowhere." "News of Perm" (September 17, 2014). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
4. Plamen Konstantinov: "Volleyball player Dmitry Kovalev needs to be given the opportunity to play." R-Sport (October 12, 2014). Retrieved October 21, 2014.
5. "The Kovalev case": instead of a dot - ellipsis. "Sport-Express" (February 8, 2015). Retrieved February 10, 2015.
6. Order of the President of the Russian Federation dated July 19, 2013 No. 277-rp "On Encouragement"
7. The winners of the competition "Sports Elite of Prikamye-2011" have been approved. Union of Sports Federations of the Perm Territory (December 21, 2011). Retrieved June 5, 2014.

Partially used materials from the site http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Russian athlete. International Master of Sports.
Member of the Russian national volleyball team. Connecting VK "Ural" of the city of Ufa.

Dmitry Kovalev was born on March 15, 1991 in the city of Perm. He has an older brother, Alexander. Their father, Mikhail Kovalev, worked as an athletics coach. He began to play volleyball with his brother in early childhood. He took part in children's and youth tournaments, competitions and championships. He is a pupil of the sports school of his hometown under the guidance of coach Svetlana Viktorovna Okulova.

He began his professional sports career in 2008 as a member of the Perm volleyball club Prikamye. Already in the next season, he took a place in the starting lineup of the team.

In 2010, Dmitry received an invitation to the Russian youth team, in which he won gold at the European Championship in Belarus. Later, in August 2011, as part of the same youth team, he won gold at the World Championship in Brazil.

Then, in July 2013, as part of the Russian student team under the leadership of Sergei Shlyapnikov, Dmitry Kovalev became the winner of the Universiade in Kazan.

A year later, in the spring of 2014, Andrei Voronkov called Dmitry Kovalev to the main Russian team. In May, the Prikamye player made his debut in its squad in the World League match against the Serbian national team in Niš, and took part in four games of the national team in total.

Meanwhile, Kovalev unilaterally tore up the contract with Prikamye, which had been in force until 2016. To continue his career, he chose the volleyball club "Gubernia", but from the beginning of the 2014-2015 season, he remained out of the game due to a lengthy litigation between the clubs. As a result, an amicable agreement was reached, "Prikamye" agreed to a temporary transition and on January 21, 2015 Dmitry played the first match after a long break.

In August 2015, the athlete signed a contract with the Ural volleyball club.

In January 2016, he played at the European Olympic qualification in Berlin, in the second match of the tournament he suffered an ankle injury, which did not allow him to help the team in the rest of the meeting. He also took part in the 2016 World League, but was not included in the national team's application for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

In May 2017, under the new head coach of the Russian national team, Sergei Shlyapnikov, he returned to its composition. In the World League, he was the captain of the national team.

Dmitry Kovalev's elder brother Alexander is also a volleyball player, plays in the position of a diagonal striker, since 2006 he played for Prikamye, in the 2013/14 season - for Iskra and Yugra-Samotlor, later - for Dynamo from Leningradskaya area.
Father - Mikhail Kovalev - athletics coach, works in Perm.

Dmitry Mikhailovich Kovalev(born March 15, 1991) - Russian volleyball player, setter, player of the Russian national team, master of sports of international class.

Sports career

Dmitry Kovalev began to play volleyball in the Perm sports school of Alexander Tretyakov under the guidance of coach Svetlana Viktorovna Okulova. In the 2008/09 season, he began to appear in the local team “Prikamye”, replacing Roman Zutikov or Vladimir Vikulov (the current head coach of “Prikamye”) on the site, already in the next season he took a place in the starting lineup of the Perm team, and a year later, in 2010, he was chosen as its captain.

With the new captain of Prikamye, in two years it has gone from the major league “B”, where it ended up due to financial problems and the loss of the strongest volleyball players, to the main division of the Russian championship - the Super League. By this time, Dmitry Kovalev had already gained quite wide popularity thanks to his performances for the youth national team of Russia, in which he also served as captain's functions. In September 2010, Kovalev became the winner of the European Championship in Belarus and the winner of the prize for the best setter of the tournament, and in August 2011, as part of the youth team headed by Sergei Shlyapnikov, he won gold at the World Championship in Brazil.

In two Super League championships, Dmitry Kovalev became the best in terms of performance among setters (in the 2012/13 season, he scored 143 points in 31 matches, and in the next - 108 in 24 matches) - having a high jump, Kovalev plays strongly on the block, owns a difficult reception with a planning serve, has an excellent vision of the site, which allows you to create comfortable conditions for your attackers, and, if necessary, attack yourself.

In July 2013, as part of the Russian student team under the leadership of Sergei Shlyapnikov, Dmitry Kovalev became the winner of the Universiade in Kazan, in August he was invited by Andrei Voronkov to the collection of the national team preparing for the European Championship, then returned to Shlyapnikov in the senior youth team. In its composition, Kovalev became the silver medalist of the Cup of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in Alma-Ata and the bronze medalist of the first ever U23 World Championship in Brazilian Uberlandia, entered the symbolic team of the world championship.

In the spring of 2014, Andrei Voronkov again called Dmitry Kovalev to the Russian national team. On May 30, the captain of “Prikamye” made his debut in its line-up in the World League match with the Serbian national team in Niš, and in total took part in four games of the national team.

Meanwhile, Kovalev unilaterally tore up the contract with Prikamye, which had been in force until 2016. To continue his career, he chose Gubernia, but from the beginning of the 2014/15 season remained out of the game due to a lengthy litigation between the clubs. As a result, an amicable agreement was reached, “Prikamye” agreed to a temporary transfer and on January 21, 2015 Kovalev played the first match after a long break, playing for “Gubernia” in the return leg of the 1/8 finals of the Challenge Cup against Minsk “Builder”.

In June 2015, Dmitry Kovalev was the captain of the second and student teams of Russia, with whom he won a bronze medal at the European Games in Baku and gold at the Universiade in Gwangju. In August of the same year, he signed a contract with Ufa Ural for four seasons.

In October 2015, Dmitry Kovalev was the main liaison of the Russian national team at the European Championship, in January 2016 he played at the European Olympic qualification in Berlin and in the second match of the tournament he suffered an ankle injury, which did not allow him to help the team in other meetings. He also took part in the 2016 World League, but was not included in the national team's application for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Awards

• Certificate of honor of the President of the Russian Federation (July 19, 2013) - for high sporting achievements at the XXVII World Summer Universiade 2013 in Kazan.
• Laureate of the competition "Sports Elite of Prikamye-2011" in the nomination "Best Athlete of the Year in Olympic Sports".

A family

Dmitry Kovalev's elder brother Alexander (born in 1988) is also a volleyball player, plays in the position of a diagonal striker, since 2006 played for Prikamye, in the 2013/14 season - for Iskra and Yugra-Samotlor, and in currently - for Dynamo from the Leningrad region.

Father, Mikhail Kovalev, is an athletics coach working in Perm.