Joel Banks Coaching Finland at Olympic qualification tournament.

Banks, who replaced Tuomas Sammelvuo as the Finnish coach in 2019, is bidding for a place in the Olympic games next year in Paris. 

Banks has enjoyed a very successful coaching career, having been part of the Great Britain coaching team at London 2012 and delivering success in European club professional volleyball, and is looking to continue this at the Olympic qualifiers.

In addition to his international role, Banks also coaches Berlin Recycling Volleys, who play in the German Volleyball Bundesliga, winning the league four times in the last five years.

He has also worked with other teams in Belgium as well as the youth development program for the Belgium National team. 

As a player for Malory Eagles, as well as clubs across Europe ,he has a strong understanding of the European structure of the sport.

Mark Lebedew, a coach for the Australian National Team for the 2020 Olympics and a friend of Banks spoke about his fellow coach. 

“We know each other from around the volleyball world, which isn't so big. We have a common language and perhaps we have a connection through being from outside the 'normal' volleyball countries,” he said. 

Our teams have never played each other somehow but we've had plenty of contact over the years and I've followed his results. It will be fun to finally catch up on the other side of the net.” 

We wish Joel the best of luck in his remaining games of the qualifiers and look forward to seeing his progress in this year’s tournaments and competitions representing the best of English coaching overseas. 

Photo: CEV