Tuomas Sammelvuo

Tuomas Petteri Sammelvuo (born 16 February 1976) is a Finnish professional volleyball coach and former player. He currently serves as head coach for the Canada national team and the Polish PlusLiga team, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle.[1][2]

Tuomas Sammelvuo
Sammelvuo in 2012
Personal information
Full nameTuomas Petteri Sammelvuo
NationalityFinnish
Born (1976-02-16) 16 February 1976
Pudasjärvi, Finland
Height1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Coaching information
Current teamCanada
ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Previous teams coached
YearsTeams
2013–2019
2016–2019
2019–2022
2019–2022
2022–
2022–		Finland
Kuzbass Kemerovo
Russia
Zenit Saint Petersburg
ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Canada
Volleyball information
PositionOutside hitter
Career
YearsTeams
1993–1994
1994–1997
1997–1998
1998–2000
2000–2002
2002–2003
2003–2005
2005–2006
2006–2008
2008–2009
2009–2010
2010–2011
2011–2012
2012		Raision Loimu
KuPS Kuopio
Strasbourg VB
Stade Poitevin Poitiers
Piemonte Volley
Copra Ventaglio Piacenza
Tours VB
Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza
Dynamo Kaliningrad
Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia
ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
Umbria Volley
Lokomotiv Novosibirsk
National team
1993–2010 Finland (296)
Honours
Head coach  Russia
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2020 Tokyo
FIVB Nations League
Gold medal – first place2019 Chicago
Head coach  Canada
NORCECA Championship
Silver medal – second place2023 Charleston

Sammelvuo is still the only Finnish male volleyball player to have won the Champions League (2005). Having played 296 games in the national team, he has the second largest number of games in the Finnish volleyball history.

Personal life

Sammelvuo has two brothers and a sister. He speaks six languages: Finnish, French, English, Italian, Polish and Russian, is married to Petra and has two children.[3]

Career

Early career

Sammelvuo started his volleyball career in Pudasjärvi, northern Finland. When he turned 16, he moved to Tampere. Sammelvuo played in Finland youth national team, which reached fourth place at the 1995 Junior World Championship.

Finland

Sammelvuo started his professional career at the age of sixteen, in Raision Loimu. After that, he moved to KuPS, and won two league titles and one silver medal.

Professional career

From KuPS, Sammelvuo moved to the French team, Strasbourg VB. Sammelvuo spent there one year, and then moved to Stade Poitevin Poitiers. In 2000, he signed a contract in Italy, and started playing in Cuneo. Sammelvuo played for them for two seasons before moving to Piacenza. In Piacenza, he won the Italian Cup. In 2003, he returned to France and joined Tours VB.

In his first season in France, Sammelvuo won the French Champion title and made it to the Champions League semifinals, losing there to Lokomotiv Belgorod, the future competition winner. He ended the next season in Tours as the Champions League winner, being the first ever player from Finland to win the trophy.

After two seasons spent in Tours, Sammelvuo moved to Japan and started playing for Toyoda Gosei Trefuerza. He was the first ever Finnish volleyball player in Japan.

In 2006, Sammelvuo joined the Russian team, Dynamo Kaliningrad.

The 2008–09 season, Sammelvuo spent playing in Italy for Tonno Callipo Vibo Valentia. For the 2009–10, he signed a contract with the Polish PlusLiga team, ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle. In 2011, he joined the Russian team, Lokomotiv Novosibirsk. He came back to Lokomotiv for the 2012–13 season, after one season spent in Italy.

National team

He was appointed captain of the Finland national team in 1997. At the 2007 European Championship held in Russia, Finland came in fourth place and made Finland ball games history. Overall, Sammelvuo played 296 games in the national team.

Honours

As a player

As a coach

Individual awards
  • 2014: Coach of the year in Finland[5]
  • 2021: Coach of the year in Finland
  • 2023: Coach of the year in Finland[6]

References
  1. "Tuomas Sammelvuo nowym szkoleniowcem ZAKSY Kędzierzyn-Koźle". siatka.org (in Polish). 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  2. "Tuomas Sammelvuo Announced as Men's Head Coach". volleyball.ca. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  3. "Sammelvuo on Olympic silver, coaching and kalakukko". volleyballworld.com. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  4. "Dinamo Moscow triumph with the 2021 #CEVCupM title". CEV. 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. "Secrets of Coaching Success: Tuomas Sammelvuo". CEV. 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  6. "Eemi Tervaportti kauden lentopalloilijaksi toisen kerran – kymmenen vuoden tauon jälkeen". lentopallo.fi (in Finnish). 17 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
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