Hubert Aleksander Wagner ( Hubert Jerzy Wagner) (4 March 1941 – 13 March 2002) was a Polish

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player and coach. He was a member of the Poland national team from 1963 to 1971, a participant in the Mexico 1968 Olympics, and a bronze medallist at the 1967 European Championship. As a head coach, he led Poland to become the 1974 World Champions and the 1976 Olympic Champions.

Personal life

Wagner was born in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

. His parents were Romuald and Zofia (née Kotlińska). He had two younger siblings, Elżbieta (born 1946) and Leszek. Wagner was married twice. On 15 October 1963, he married

Danuta Kordaczuk Danuta Kordaczuk-Wagner (born 2 September 1939 – 10 April 1988) was a Polish volleyball player and head coach, a member of Poland women's national volleyball team in 1956–1970, a bronze medalist of the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964, a bronze med ...

, an Olympic medal winning volleyball player with medals in the World and European Championships. The couple had one son, Grzegorz Wagner (born 1965), a professional volleyball setter and coach. The couple divorced in 1978. In 1979, he married Anna Baraniecka. In the last two years of his life, his partner was Danuta Marzec. He had three grandchildren: Iwo (born 1991), who played as a setter and is now a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

; Jakub (born 1993), who is also a volleyball player; and Sara (born 2003).

Coaching

In 1973, he became head coach of the Polish men's national volleyball team at 32 years old. He was demanding and greatly valued physical preparation of his players. In 1974, he led the team to win the Volleyball Men's World Championship. In the subsequent year, they won silver in the European Championship 1975 held in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. On 30 July 1976, the national men's volleyball team became the 1976 Olympic Champions. Despite Polish volleyball players spending hours on the court while their opponents only spent five hours, Wagner's team still beat the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in a tie-break. Two months after this success, he left the national team.

Honours

As a player

* Domestic ** 1962–63 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warsaw ** 1964–65 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warsaw ** 1965–66 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warsaw ** 1967–68 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with AZS AWF Warsaw

As a coach

* Domestic ** 1982–83 Gold medal with cup

Polish Championship, with

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

** 1991–92 Gold medal with cup

Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara ** 1992–93 Gold medal with cup

Turkish Championship, with Halkbank Ankara

Death

On 13 March 2002, after a meeting with the Polish Association of Volleyball in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

, Wagner suffered a car accident triggered by a heart attack. Despite rapid resuscitation, he died. An autopsy showed advanced

coronary artery disease Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), or ischemic heart disease (IHD), is a type of cardiovascular disease, heart disease involving Ischemia, the reduction of blood flow to the cardiac muscle due to a build-up ...

. He was buried at the Northern Communal Cemetery in Warsaw.

Legacy

The Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner is an annual three-day volleyball tournament with four national teams invited by Poland held since 2003. Wagner was admitted to the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2010.''Hubert Wagner – International Hall of Fame''
– volleyball.org Five schools and two sports arenas in Poland are named after him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wagner, Hubert 1941 births 2002 deaths Volleyball players from Poznań Polish men's volleyball players Olympic volleyball players for Poland Polish volleyball coaches Olympic volleyball coaches Volleyball coaches of international teams Volleyball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Polish expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Polish expatriate sportspeople in Tunisia Legia Warsaw (men's volleyball) coaches International Volleyball Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Polish sportsmen