‘Pass the Pod’ with German powerhouse SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN

SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN of Germany take centre stage in the latest episode of our ‘Pass the Pod’ series, with middle blocker Lauren Barfield and outside hitter Lina Alsmeier joined by Media Officer Hanna Jehring to share impressions from their Champions League adventure and much more.

Schwerin is some sort of Volleyball ‘Mecca’ in Germany, with the foundation of the club dating back to 1957. The women’s team from Schwerin achieved much success during the years of the former East Germany, securing the CEV Champions Cup title in 1978 under their former name of Traktor SCHWERIN. However, their success has continued well beyond the fall of the Berlin Wall, resulting in as many as 12 Bundesliga titles and 6 national cup crowns.

SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN remain a major force to reckon with in Germany and internationally as well. “We see ourselves as a club that helps grow young, talented players, who have the opportunity to hone and show their skills before they move elsewhere to play at the highest level,” says Jehring, recalling the experience they have had with both Louisa Lippmann and McKenzie Adams.

“Playing for SCHWERIN is something special because the club always aims high in all domestic competitions and the goal is to take top honours from the national league,” adds Alsmeier. “At the same time, it is a real privilege to play against international top teams in the Champions League. This was my first season in this competition and I was excited and nervous at the same time to be playing against teams and players I had only seen on TV before. We can definitely learn a lot from them and from such an experience.”

The team coached by Felix Koslowski finished their #CLVolleyW journey on a record of three wins and as many losses, ultimately failing to progress to the quarterfinals. “Losing, of course, is never something you can accept that easily but there is nothing we can do about that anymore and we now have to move forward and focus on the remainder of the domestic season,” says Barfield, the most experienced player on the team.

“I still believe that we played six good matches and had two good tournaments in our pool. We have a young team, so we continue to learn as we go and we improve ourselves mentally as well as physically. This is an ongoing process, which applies to me as well, even though I am the oldest one on the roster,” the middle blocker continues. “I am especially happy, however, that even the younger players are very professional in their approach and this way we can continue to develop as a group together.”

As any other team, SSC Palmberg SCHWERIN have had to cope with the many challenges brought by the coronavirus pandemic. “We face the same struggles as everybody else, and the current circumstances require a tremendous amount of flexibility and adaptability,” Jehring admits. “We have found ways to continue to innovate, have provided players with the tools they need to work out from home and organised online press conferences for the media. Despite all of the challenges, we are very grateful that in the current environment we can continue to play and compete. We will continue to adjust day by day, hoping to leave this pandemic behind us as soon as possible.”

Full Episode

Asked to pass the pod to another elite team, Barfield reminded herself of the year she spent in Poland earlier in her career, namely in Legionowo, in an attempt to pronounce in the best possible way the name of the men’s Pool A winners, Grupa Azoty KEDZIERZYN KOZLE, which may be quite a tongue twister for any non-Polish speaking person… Stay tuned for the next episode to follow soon!