Tuomas Sammelvuo

Tuomas Sammelvuo
Sammelvuo in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Tuomas Petteri Sammelvuo
Born	(1976-02-16) 16 February 1976 (age 48) Pudasjärvi, Finland
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Coaching information
Current team	Canada Asseco Resovia
Previous teams coached Years Teams 2013–2019 2016–2019 2019–2022 2019–2022 2022–2023 2022– 2024– Finland Kuzbass Kemerovo Russia Zenit Saint Petersburg ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle Canada Asseco Resovia
Volleyball information
Position	Outside hitter
Career
Years Teams 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 2020 Tokyo FIVB Nations League 2019 Chicago Head coach   Canada NORCECA Championship 2023 Charleston

Tuomas Petteri Sammelvuo (born 16 February 1976) is a Finnish professional volleyball coach and former player. He serves as head coach for the Canada national team and the Polish PlusLiga team, Asseco Resovia. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

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

He speaks six languages: Finnish, French, English, Italian, Polish and Russian. ^[4]

From his first marriage to Petra, he has two children: a son and a daughter. In 2024, his second wife, Alina gave birth to a daughter, Lilianne. ^[5]

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

• CEV Champions League
  • 2004–05 – with Tours VB
• CEV Challenge Cup
  • 2001–02 – with Noicom Cuneo
• Domestic
  • 1994–95 Finnish Cup, with KuPS Kuopio
  • 1994–95 Finnish Championship, with KuPS Kuopio
  • 1995–96 Finnish Cup, with KuPS Kuopio
  • 1995–96 Finnish Championship, with KuPS Kuopio
  • 1998–99 French Championship, with Stade Poitevin Poitiers
  • 2001–02 Italian Cup, with Noicom Brebanca Cuneo
  • 2003–04 French Championship, with Tours VB
  • 2004–05 French Cup, with Tours VB
  • 2010–11 Russian Cup, with Lokomotiv Novosibirsk

As a coach

• CEV Champions League
  • 2022–23 – with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
• CEV Cup
  • 2020–21 – with Zenit Saint Petersburg ^[6]
• Domestic
  • 2018–19 Russian Championship, with Kuzbass Kemerovo
  • 2022–23 Polish Cup, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle
  • 2023–24 Polish SuperCup, with ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle

Individual awards

• 2014: Coach of the year in Finland ^[7]
• 2021: Coach of the year in Finland
• 2023: Coach of the year in Finland ^[8]

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 Canada. 3 November 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
3. "Piotr Maciąg, prezes Asseco Resovii: wierzę, że te dobre momenty w dalszym ciągu są przed nami". PlusLiga (in Polish). 19 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
4. "Sammelvuo on Olympic silver, coaching and kalakukko". Volleyball World. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
5. "Tuomas Sammelvuo, 48, ja Alina-rakas: Lapsi syntyi". Iltalehti (in Finnish). 31 October 2024. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
6. "Dinamo Moscow triumph with the 2021 #CEVCupM title". CEV . 25 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
7. "Secrets of Coaching Success: Tuomas Sammelvuo". CEV . 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
8. "Eemi Tervaportti kauden lentopalloilijaksi toisen kerran – kymmenen vuoden tauon jälkeen". lentopallo.fi (in Finnish). 17 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023.

External links

• Player profile at the European Volleyball Confederation
• Player profile at LegaVolley.it(in Italian)
• Player profile at PlusLiga.pl(in Polish)
• Coach profile at the European Volleyball Confederation
• Coach profile at Olympedia
• Coach/Player profile at Volleybox.net