Canada’s most respected beach volleyball coach Lennard Krapp named head coach of the Pakmen Elite Beach program this summer

Former head coach of the German Developmental Program, Lennard Krapp, is joining us for the upcoming season!

Volleyball fans will be quick to remember that the German men’s team won gold in the 2012 London Olympics. The highly regarded program took a turn in the right direction in 1997 by establishing national training centers and boarding schools for its exceptional athletes. Dozens of athletes that underwent training with the German Youth Program went on to play in the Olympics, including Julius Brink – the 2012 Gold Medal Champion. The man behind this progression was none other than Lennard Krapp.

Krapp has been named coach of the Pakmen Elite Beach Volleyball program this summer.

“When Lennard comes in to coach, we are genuinely excited to see him,” says Pakmen Coach Jessy Satti. “He is extremely knowledgeable about the sport. He record is unmatched and he is the most sought out coach around.”

After coming to Canada nearly four years ago, Krapp began his Canadian career as the head coach of the Beach National Team. Since then, Canada has won multiple medals in international competition. Krapp has revived a program that was initially struggling on the international stage. He coached Garrett May and Sam Schachter to the Gold Medal at U21 World Championships, helped Canada in 2012 winning the Continental Cup Final, which qualified us for the Olympic Games in London.

Recently, Lennard’s athletes have went on to win the qualifiers to represent Canada at the U17 World Championships, U19 World Championships, and U21 World Championships. He coached Olympian Josh Binstock and Olympic hopeful Sam Schachter to Gold at the Canadian NORECA trails and Olympic hopefuls Victoria Altomare and Julie Gordon to GOLD at the Canadian NORECA trails. Many of the top National team players hire Lennard privately to train them because they recognize he is one of the top coaches in the world.

Phillip Rodrigues has been with the club for multiple years and will be coaching the U18 boys team starting this Fall. “He has a very scientific approach to coaching,” says Rodrigues. “This enables him to rapidly and clearly point out any inefficiencies an athlete might have in his or her game. Not only is he a top beach coach, but his knowledge of the indoor game is just as strong as he coached in a top European professional league and worked for several indoor Bundesliga Clubs in Germany. He was also a learning facilitator for coach development in Germany (indoor and beach).”

Lennard will be coaching the girls teams twice a week and the boys teams twice a week this summer. He will be available for small group semi-private training on Fridays at the beach courts at Thomas Street Middle School in Mississauga.