Zajíček, Indra, Vašina & Co. secure Team of the Year award in Czechia
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The Czech men’s national team has been recognised as the Sports Team of the Year for 2025 in their home country. Earlier this year, they secured a silver medal in the CEV European Golden League and, above all, a historic fourth place at the World Championship. Such achievements earned the Czech Volleyball team the highest award in the annual ‘Sportsman of the Year’ poll. In the vote for the best sports team of 2025, the Sports Journalists’ Club chose the side coached by Jiří Novák over the mixed biathlon relay team and the USK Prague basketball team.
For the team around Adam Zajíček, Patrik Indra and Lukáš Vašina, this is a well-deserved award following a truly exceptional season. “I would like to thank my players, because this award is their result. I am very happy that we were able to make you happy during the championship and that we made you follow us on TV. I would like to emphasise that sport is not always about victories and losses, but also about memories. And I think that the memory of this beautiful evening will be unforgettable,” Novák said on stage at the Hilton Hotel in Prague.
Team Czechia managed to fight their way into the top four teams of the World Championship in the Philippines, where they started their campaign in the group stage losing to powerhouse Brazil and clearly beating both Serbia and China. Novák’s team subsequently sent home Tunisia and Iran, and conceded defeat to eventual silver medal winners Bulgaria in the semis. In the bronze medal match, world’s no. 1 Poland was ultimately stronger, but the Czechs nevertheless secured a historic achievement and returned to Prague as winners. In addition, they claimed a silver medal from the CEV European Golden League and qualification for the CEV EuroVolley 2026. They ended the season in 18th place in the FIVB World Ranking.
Adam Zajíček“The immediate feelings are of course only positive and I am proud of the boys for what we have achieved together. This is the biggest reward we could have received. The award is truly beautiful – the big lion on a silver coin looks great. We enjoyed the whole evening and we are extremely satisfied. I could not be prouder of the boys.”
Team Czechia captain
Setter Luboš Bartůněk echoed the feelings of his teammate. “It’s great. Just being here, being named for Sportsman of the Year is incredible, and winning is an achievement on an even higher level. We are very happy that we did it and won this category. Hopefully, this is not the last time we are here.”