Dear Volleyball Fans

As we continue to experience the excitement of the 2023-2024 season, I greet you with love and respect.

Each new season brings new goals and new excitements. May our season be blessed for all our teams and the volleyball community.

I would like to state with great faith that, as one of the most successful teams in the history of world volleyball, our goal is always to be the champion in every category. This year, we set out with the motto of being the champion in every category. I wish success to our team, which will reflect these feelings on the field and do justice to the VakıfBank jersey from the first point to the last point.

We are experiencing the rightful pride of the point we have reached in our story that started in 1986 to support Turkish women's volleyball and share the dreams of girls, with our sustainable focus on success. As it is well known, one of our biggest goals is to raise talented athletes for Turkish sports. We continue to introduce our girls to Turkish volleyball in our sports schools in different cities, starting with the VakıfBank Sports Palace, which we built entirely with our own resources. These talents, raised with VakıfBank's valuable culture, continue to make our country and us proud by winning championships and breaking records. VakıfBank Sports Club is not only Turkey's most successful team, but also a legend in the international arena. It is also Turkey's longest-running and most successful social responsibility project. Our club is the symbol of stability and sustainable success.

Each of our girls, whom we raise and contribute to their development, is at least as valuable to us as our championships. Today, the pride of being the club that provides the most athletes to the national teams in all age groups is a happiness beyond anything else for us. This year, we are excitedly waiting for the success of our infrastructure teams as well as our A team.

We have left behind another historic summer in volleyball. As a club that has contributed countless talents to Turkish volleyball for many years, our pride has been crowned once again with the victories achieved by our national teams in different age categories. In particular, the fact that our U20 Women's National Team, in which five players from our infrastructure played, reached the European championship was an indescribable source of happiness and pride for us. In addition, the fact that our U16 Women's National Team, which included three of our players and one of our coaches, reached the summit in the Balkan Championship honored us once again.

Of course, the Olympic excitement we experienced with the Sultans of the Net was an unforgettable step in Turkish volleyball history. We experienced the excitement of the semi-finals and played a medal match for the first time in our history at the Olympics. Of course, we would like our girls and our country to experience the happiness of winning a medal. However, it is important to remember that this is a process. I believe that we will achieve this in the next one as well. The fact that our infrastructure investments and the support we provide for player development have a major share in our National Team's journey to the top is a great source of pride for the VakıfBank family.

It is now time for the club season. Every corner of our hall is filled with the championships we have won and the records we have broken. Of course, we are proud of each of our achievements. However, we know very well that there is no yesterday in sports. We prepared for the new season with desire and determination as if we were going to win everything for the first time. We sincerely believe that we will experience many more victories with the energy, self-confidence and power we have. As I have always said, VakıfBank is the natural favorite of all the tournaments it participates in.

We are starting the new season with a renewed and strengthened squad led by Giovanni, who is entering his 17th season on our team. We are sure that each of our players will carry the VakıfBank jersey and values properly. We entrust VakıfBank to our brilliant players who will contribute to this family not only with their talents but also with their characters. We also entrust the captaincy duty to one of the daughters of our family, our dear Zehra Güneş, who joined us when she was a little child. I sincerely wish success to Zehra. She rose to the captaincy from our youth academy and took over the flag like Gözde Kırdar and Melis Gürkaynak, whose jerseys we hang in our hall as our legends, in this important and proud duty.

In the new season, we have 6 players in our large team from our infrastructure. I would also like to take this occasion to welcome those who joined us this year. Sıla Çalışkan, who returned to her home, and Caterina Bosetti, Deniz Uyanık, Kendall Kipp, Kiera Van Ryk, Marina Markova and Yuan Xinyue (Şeniyi), who will wear the VakıfBank jersey for the first time, have joined our family. İlker Altan and Sergio Perez have also joined our technical staff. I wish them many more successful and historic moments in our club. I would also like to congratulate Caterina Bosetti, who won the gold medal in the Olympic Games, and our coach Giovanni Miale.

As I conclude my words here, I wish the new season to be beneficial for all of us. I wish success to the teams that will represent our country in the European cups. I wish all athletes a successful season free from injuries. I respectfully greet you with the hope that we will have a season with the spirit of fair play for all stakeholders of our volleyball community.

Abdi Serdar ÜSTÜNSALİH - President