Day 11 of 12: Anwar’s Preparations. Interview with Coach Reljic Sinisa

For the past decade, Club Anwar Jdeideh was one of the top teams who were competing for the championship, and the team has won the title three times. Last year, they ended up in second place after losing three games to two in the final against Zahra. Coach Reljic Sinisa from Serbia is leading Anwar this year and he joined us in an interview where we discussed the following:

Q: When did the team start preparations, and how many training sessions per week is the team performing?
A: We started training on November 2. At the beginning, we were training five times a week, from Monday to Friday. We are also having morning practice three to four times a week. I am leading the team’s physical preparations in the gym, and their volleyball practice on court.

Q: What are the team’s goals this year in the championship?
A: Our goal is to win the championship, like every year.

Q: Which team do you consider to be your hardest opponent?
A: For sure it is Zahra, but there are many good teams this year. I don’t know from before, but I heard that this year the competition will be much stronger than last year. There are five or six good teams competing.

Q: What are the advantages that your team has over its rivals?
A: We have a good atmosphere in the team which is very important. Of course we have good quality of players, especially Lebanese players who have a lot of experience. Moreover, Darko is already like Lebanese, he has been playing in Lebanon for a long time now. Also Gregory played last year, and the year before here in Lebanon. And, Alan he is a new good player who has played in Greece, and in the champions league and he has good experience. I think we have a very good team this year.

Q: What are the latest results that your team has achieved from friendly games?
A: Our game results were:
Sami Abou Jaoude’s Memorial tournament:
Hboub 0-3 Anwar
Risseleh Sarafand 1-3 Anwar
Dalhoun 1-3 Anwar
Halat 1-3 Anwar
Zahra 3-1 Anwar
Omar Karameh’s Memorial Cup:
Zahra 3-2 Anwar
We also had two friendly shared training sessions with Dalhoun, and Bouchrieh without keeping count of the score.

Q: What are your expectations for your first game this season which will be against Sacre Coeur?
A: We have to take every game seriously if we want to win the championship. Every game is important to us. Sacre Coeur have a good team, and they play good even if they are not in the top teams. The first game is always difficult, but it depends on our players’ performance.

Game 1:
Anwar vs Sacre Coeur
Date: Wednesday, 13 January 2016
Time: 6:30PM
Court: M. Murr Stadium

Anwar‘s history since 2009:
Anwar-History

Photographs taken from: Sports Mania