The Sports Merit Awards 2022 recognised the best sportsmen and sportswomen and organisations in the city at their annual gala. This year, as a novelty, the award for the best coach was added, which rewarded the great work of Juanjo Susín Luque.
Last Thursday 19th April, Juanjo Susín, the coach of the University of Valencia volleyball team, received the award for best coach for all the results obtained over the course of 2022. This is a category in which the Valencia City Council recognises one of the essential pillars of the preparation of high-performance athletes and a fundamental part of their success.
"This is the first time that the Valencia City Council has given a sports merit award to a coach, and that in itself is a triumph because I think it is fundamental that they value the work of coaches. And if we add that I have had the good fortune that this first award goes to me, then I couldn't be happier" admits Juanjo Susín, "obviously we don't do the work for the prizes but it's good for all of us that they recognise our merits, it's a real pride", says the coach.
Under Juanjo Susín's guidance, everything has been success for the volleyball teams at the University of Valencia. He has been coaching the UV men's team since 2010, and the women's team since 2014. With the boys UV has been competing in the Spanish University Championship (CEU) for 9 consecutive years, since 2014 they have won every year the Autonomous Championship of University Sport (CADU) and have gone 3 times to the European Championships. With the girls, Susín has managed to go to the CEU uninterruptedly since 2016, they have been autonomous champions every year and have accumulated two participations in European university competitions.
This year 2023 has also started with victories for the UV volleyball teams, the most recent triumph was last March when both teams won the CADU and became autonomous champions of 2023. "Next week we will travel to Valladolid to play the Spanish University Volleyball Championship (CEU)", explains Juanjo, who feels the University of Valencia as his home: "it is a place where I feel very warm, they have always trusted in my work and, for me, representing the UV is a joy and a responsibility but, above all, it is an honour to play on behalf of the UV, with its principles, its values and with the support it gives to university sport", assures the coach.
The medal for sporting merit of the city of Valencia has not only been awarded to him for the sporting results he has accumulated at the UV, but also for the successes he has achieved at Club Volleyball Valencia, where he coaches the women's team that is in Super League 2, the second Spanish division. Juanjo Susín is also coach of the Spanish national team and second coach of the Spanish women's national team.
- Check the website of UVesports
