More than sports – Helpers behind the sidelines

Xiamen, China, April 19, 2016 – While the World Tour athletes are fighting on the court thinking points and prize money, the people around them have to face different challenges.

Sitting motionless on a perch while raindrops keep falling on your head, ignoring the thunderstorm and watching out for the right decision – that’s something Milan Vachutka knows very well.

Three years ago the Czech referee had to officiate every game in the rain. At the World Championships in 2013 in Stare Jablonki he wore just shorts and a small baseball cap. When he left the court completely sodden after the one-hour match between Nic Lucena/John Hyden (USA) and Sebastian Fuchs/Thomas Kaczmarek (GER) he just said: “Being a referee is my life.” The role model of the 33-year-old is his mother, who was the first woman in the Czech Republic to officiate a volleyball match. 

People like Milan or fellow referee Maria Amélia Villas-Boas help to make World Tour events happen. “I’ve loved volleyball since I was a teenager,” …

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