Hubert 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
YearsTeams
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
Poland Legia Warszawa
 Poland
 Poland
Turkey Filament Bursa
 Tunisia
Turkey Halkbank Ankara
Poland Stilion Gorzów
Poland Skra Warszawa
 Poland
Poland Dick Black Andrychów
Poland Morze Szczecin
Poland Legia Warszawa
Volleyball information
Position Setter
Career
Teams
Poland AZS Poznań
Poland AZS AWF Warszawa
Poland Skra Warszawa
National team
1963–1971 Poland (194)
Last updated: 18 June 2015

Hubert Aleksander Wagner (also known as Hubert Jerzy Wagner) (born 4 March 1941 – 13 March 2002) was a former Polish volleyball player and head 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 led the Polish men's national volleyball team to titles of World Champions 1974 and Olympic Champions 1976.

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.

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 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hubert Wagner.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Poland Tadeusz Szlagor
Head coach of Poland
1973–1976
Succeeded by
Poland Jerzy Welcz
Preceded by
Poland Aleksander Skiba
Head coach of Poland
1983–1986
Succeeded by
Poland Stanisław Gościniak
Preceded by
Poland Wiktor Krebok
Head coach of Poland
1996–1998
Succeeded by
Poland Ireneusz Mazur
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