Press release

Bahia Blanca, Argentina, August 28, 2011 - The name Casamiquela might sound like just one of another newcomer to global volleyball competitions making his debut as international referee in the 2011 Boy’s Youth World Championship.

But the mere mention of the name in Argentina, site of the age-group tournament for players under 19-years-old, makes a lot of heads to turn around since the Casamiquelas have become synonymous with volleyball in this South American country with a strong legacy to the sport.

Hernan Casamiquela, 46, has been immersed in volleyball since the early childhood days as permanent companion to his mother Ethel Alicia Crorali de Casamiquela, the most heralded and respected volleyball coach in the country and still active as one 76 years-old mentor.

Ethel Alicia, who played locally and internationally from 1949-1964, has received countless recognition in her long and illustrious career like the one as the most outstanding woman of Ciudad de La Plata and also as 2008 Coach of the Year by the Argentinean Olympic Committee.

“I used to be with my mother all the time when she was training her teams and later on I was fortunate to become her assistant,” says the proud Hernan, who obtained his international license as referee in a course held in Bolivia in 2003. “We have shared many good moments on court and, of course, off the courts.”

Hernan’s father, Don Rodolfo Manuel Casamiquela, is not a strange to the sport of volleyball as a former President of the Argentina Volleyball Federation (FAV) and one of the most respected lawyers in the country.

“I grew up in a volleyball family and as member of Club Gimnasia and Esgrima which is the cradle of volleyball in our country,” Hernan says. “So it was something natural for me and for my sister Paula Veronica, a former player and currently a lecturer of the Physical Education career at Universidad Catolica de La Plata.”

Hernan, who shares his referee duties with those as volleyball coordinator for the Ministry of Sports in the province of Buenos Aires, began his career as referee in 1984 at the Metropolitan Volleyball Federation and became national referee ten years later.

His experience includes five South American Championships and three Women’s Pan American Cup. Next September he will be the neutral referee at NORCECA Women’s Continental Championship in Puerto Rico and has been nominated as one of the referees to the volleyball tournament of the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October.

“I enjoy the atmosphere around volleyball and being a referee gives me the chance to be directly connected with it,” Hernan reveals.

The good thing about the Casamiquelas is that their connection with volleyball is not about to stop since his daughter Camila, 13, is a player in the Argentina’s Mini Volley League and could be a future star following the steps of grandma Ethel Alicia.

It is safe to say that for families like the Casamiquelas it was created the phrase “keep the ball flying.”