Hubert Wagner

Hubert Aleksander Wagner (also known as Hubert Jerzy Wagner) (born 4 March 1941 – 13 March 2002) was a Polish volleyball player and coach, a member of Poland men's national volleyball team in 1963–1971, a participant of the Olympic Games Mexico 1968, a bronze medalist of the European Championship 1967, as head coach he led the Polish men's national volleyball team to titles of World Champions 1974 and Olympic Champions 1976.

See also: Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner

Hubert Wagner
Personal information
Full name	Hubert Aleksander Wagner
Nickname	Jurek, Gruby, Kat
Nationality	Polish
Born	(1941-03-04)March 4, 1941 Poznań, Poland
Died	March 13, 2002(2002-03-13) (aged 61) Warszawa, Poland
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Coaching information
Previous teams coached Years Teams 1973–1976 1977–1985 1978–1979 1983–1985 1986–1987 1987–1988 1991–1993 1994–1995 1996–1997 1996–1998 1997–1998 1997–1999 1999–2000 Poland Legia Warszawa Poland (W) Poland Filament Bursa Tunisia Halkbank Ankara Stilon Gorzów Wielkopolski Skra Warszawa (W) Poland Dick Black Andrychów (W) Morze Bałtyk Szczecin Legia Warszawa
Volleyball information
Position	Setter
Career
Teams AZS Poznań AZS AWF Warszawa Skra Warszawa
National team
1963–1971  Poland (194)
Honours Representing  Poland Men's volleyball European Championship 1967 Turkey

Personal life

He was born in Poznań, Poland. His parents were Romuald and Zofia (née Kotlińska). He had younger siblings - sister Elżbieta (born 1946) and brother Leszek. Married twice. On October 15, 1963 he married to Danuta Kordaczuk, who was volleyball player, medalist of Olympics, World and European Championships. With wife Danuta, he had one son Grzegorz Wagner (born 1965), who was also volleyball player (setter) and coach.[1] They got divorced in 1978. In 1979 he married to Anna Baraniecka. In last two years of his life, his partner was Danuta Marzec. He had two grandsons - Iwo (born 1991) also played as setter and now he works as scoutman, second grandson Jakub (born 1993) also is volleyball player and one granddaughter named Sara (born 2003).[2]

Career as coach

In 1973 he became a head coach of Polish men's national volleyball team, when he was 32. He was known as a demanding coach, who attached great importance to physical preparation of their players. In 1974 he led Poland men's national volleyball team to first title of World Champions 1974 in history.[3]

As World Champions his team was one of the main contenders for next title. Poland went to European Championship 1975 held in Yugoslavia and won silver medal.

Before going to Montreal for the Olympics he said: I am only interested in gold.

The tournament was fatiguing and hard for his team but Wagner completed plan. On July 30, 1976 he achieved with Polish men's national volleyball team title of Olympic Champions 1976.[4] In final his team beat Soviet Union in tie-break, despite the fact that Polish volleyball players spent on the pitch 11,5 hours - a lot more time than opponents (5 hours) throughout the tournament. Two months after success he left national team.

Sporting achievements

As a player

• National championships
  • 1963 Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warszawa
  • 1965 Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warszawa
  • 1966 Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warszawa
  • 1967 Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warszawa
  • 1968 Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warszawa
  • 1969 Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warszawa

• National team
  • 1967 CEV European Championship

As a coach

• National championships
  • 1978 Polish Championship, with Legia Warszawa
  • 1980 Polish Championship, with Legia Warszawa
  • 1981 Polish Championship, with Legia Warszawa
  • 1982 Polish Championship, with Legia Warszawa
  • 1983 Polish Championship, with Legia Warszawa
  • 1985 Polish Championship, with Legia Warszawa
  • 1987 Turkish Championship, with Filament Bursa
  • 1992 Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara
  • 1993 Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara
  • 1998 Polish Championship, with Dick Black Andrychów

• National teams
  • 1974 FIVB World Championship, with Poland
  • 1975 CEV European Championship, with Poland
  • 1976 Olympic Games, with Poland
  • 1983 CEV European Championship, with Poland
  • 1987 CAVB African Championship, with Tunisia

Death

On March 13, 2002 he left the hotel in Warszawa after a lively discussion at a meeting of members of the Polish Association of Volleyball, which he was secretary. Some time later he had car accident caused by his heart attack.[5] Despite the rapid resuscitation he died. An autopsy showed advanced coronary artery disease.

Memory

Every year (since 2003) is organized Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner, which is three-day tournament for four national teams invited by Poland. It is one of the most important and popular volleyball event in Poland. In 2010 Hubert Wagner joined to International Volleyball Hall of Fame.[6] Five schools and two sports arenas in Poland are named after him.

References

1. Fragment: "KAT. Biografia Huberta Wagnera" Grzegorz Wagner, Krzysztof Mecner – onet.pl – 27-06-2014
2. Jaki ojciec, taki syn, czyli tymi samymi śladami na siatkarskim szlaku – sportowefakty.pl – 27-09-2014
3. Historia MŚ: Meksyk 1974 - historyczny triumf reprezentacji Polski pod wodzą Huberta Wagnera – sportowefakty.pl – 12-08-2014
4. Drużyna siatkarzy – onet.pl – 17-04-2012
5. Trener siatkarski Hubert Wagner nie żyje – wp.pl – 22-06-2002
6. Hubert Wagner – International Hall of Fame – volleyball.org

External links

• Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Hubert Wagner". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2015-10-16.

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tadeusz Szlagor	Head coach of Poland 1973–1976	Succeeded by Jerzy Welcz
Preceded by Aleksander Skiba	Head coach of Poland 1983–1986	Succeeded by Stanisław Gościniak
Preceded by Wiktor Krebok	Head coach of Poland 1996–1998	Succeeded by Ireneusz Mazur