Former national player Miroslav Gradinarov surprisingly appeared in the role of a youth coach in Bulgaria, volleyweek.bg understood. The outside hitter, who last played for the Austrian team Union Raiffeisen Waldviertel, is now the coach of the boys' U18 team at Varna's "Perun". Gradinarov's son, Nikola, who is on his way to catching up to his father's 198 centimeters at just 15 years old, also plays there. "I decided to try what it's like from the other side; after all, I'll be 40 in February!" explained the long-time national player about the reasons for his surprising career change. "My son is an additional incentive, of course," he added. "The idea of looking into NSA for additional qualifications is not unfamiliar to me," Gradinarov revealed about his future plans.
In his new capacity, Gradinarov started with success, as his team secured two victories today in the second zonal tournament for the age group, which was played in the training hall of DKS Varna – 3:1 against "Cherno More" and 3:0 against Omurtag. In the first tournament, Perun's team also finished with two clean victories, which is a good springboard for the next "zone" and a potential qualification for the finals of the national championship, which is the goal for the new coach.