Dubai: Gonzalo Quiroga, captain and star of the Argentine junior volleyball team, has a longstanding regret.
“I don’t think most people take volleyball very seriously. They think it’s usually more of a hobby rather than being a serious sport. What they need to realise is that there are people like me who look at volleyball as the closest thing to life,” he said.
“To me, volleyball is everything as it has given me everything in life. It’s another completely different way to live life. I think I have taken it to a different level,” he told Gulf News on the sidelines of the FIVB Men’s U-23 World Championship earlier this month.
Quiroga’s is a truly “volleyball family”. Both parents played at the national and professional levels, but it was his uncle Raul Quiroga — one of the greatest opposites in the world during his era — who convinced the young Gonzalo that his true calling lay in the sport. Elder brother Rodrigo, who plays professionally in Italy, was another catalyst in drawing the future captain of the Argentina U-23 squad to the sport.
Growing up in such an environment, it was but natural that Gonzalo took to the sport early. But within a year, he was fed up and wanted to try something new and went along with a friend to play rugby. A couple of painful tackles during rugby practice and Gonzalo was back to where he belonged.
Some seven years back, Gonzalo’s father told him he would have to think about University education in the US as an option for furthering his career in volleyball. “The challenge was huge. I did not feel good about it but yet I took it upon myself. I had the option of staying at home with my family as I was good enough in the national squad. I wanted to try out something new, and so I ended up going to the US,” he recalled.
What transpired was a full scholarship at UCLA. Now four years later, not only is Gonzalo armed with a degree in Political Science specialising in international relations but with no regrets that he took up the challenge. “I had promised my dad I would go to the US even though I was not 100 per cent sure of what lay ahead. The first two years were horrible, I did not like it one bit. But the thought that I could play volleyball and study at the same time was such a great feeling.
“The educational programme was great as well. It simply suited me and I stayed on for the full four years for my degree. Yes, there were times when I thought I could just go home and forget about all this but with regular practice sessions for the university team, I just did not let go of my dream,” he recounted.
The first part of that dream became a reality when he earned his place in the national squad for the recently-concluded FIVB Men’s U23 World Championship in Dubai with coach Martin Lopez recognising his qualities with the captain’s arm-band. “For me, this is just a job half-done. The sky is the limit from here on. I want to make the senior team, I need to work hard physically and mentally and one day I will be playing alongside my brother [Rodrigo] in the Argentina national team,” he signed off.