Today, the Italian volleyball club Gas Sales Bluenergy Volley Piacenza officially announced that Dante Boninfante will take the helm of the team for the next two seasons. The former setter, born in Battipaglia in 1977, returns to Piacenza, but this time in the role of head coach. This was announced on the club's official website.
Rich career and experience at the highest level
Boninfante is a name with weight in Italian and international volleyball. As a player, he wore the jerseys of numerous SuperLega clubs: Treviso, Ferrara, Montichiari, Verona, Piacenza, Modena, Latina, Milan, and Trento. His achievements include two Italian championship titles, one Champions League, two Italian Cups, one CEV Cup, one European Super Cup, and one Italian Super Cup. To this, we add a bronze medal from the London 2012 Olympic Games with the Italian team and nearly 50 appearances for the national team.
He played in Piacenza between 2007 and 2010, winning the championship title and the Italian Super Cup. He concluded his playing career in 2017 in Milan, after which he immediately began his coaching career.
From assistant to national coach
He took his first steps as a coach in Trentino (2017-2020) as an assistant to Angelo Lorenzetti. Then, in February 2021, he took over Prata di Pordenone as head coach, where he won the Italian Cup and the Serie A3 championship. In 2022, he became the coach of the Greek national team, with whom he worked for two years, gaining significant international experience. In the last season, he led Gioiella Prisma Taranto, which was relegated to Serie A2 this season.
First words after the appointment
"I am very happy and proud to return to Piacenza, a city and club to which I have a strong emotional connection. As a player, I believe I left good memories, but the truth is that Piacenza left many good memories in me. Now I return in a new role, with great enthusiasm. Being the coach of such a club is an exceptional honor, but also a great responsibility," said Boninfante.
He further emphasized: "We have built a very high-quality squad; all decisions were coordinated with the sports director and management. With the arrival of Paolo Porro and more young talents, the team has huge potential. We will have to work hard to reach the level of other leading teams. Participating in Europe is a source of pride for the city, the club, and all of us. This is a great opportunity to test ourselves at an international level."
A small family note: his son is a teammate of Alex Nikolov
An interesting fact is that Dante Boninfante's son - Leonardo Boninfante - is a setter for the Italian powerhouse Lube Civitanova, where his teammate is also the Bulgarian star Alex Nikolov. Another Bulgarian connection is Hristo Zlatanov, who is on the board of Piacenza.
