A resident of Shumilino has been teaching volleyball for more than 45 years.

Coach of the Shumilinsky Sports School Lyubov Bobova has been teaching the basics of volleyball to young residents of the region for more than 45 years.

Among its students are Pyotr Lazuko, who played for the national team of Belarus and now plays for the Russian club Tyumen, current member of the national team Artem Masko (Shakhtar, Soligorsk), as well as Anton Sushinsky (Marko - VSTU, Vitebsk) - the captain of our the team that took fourth place at the European Youth Championship in 2020.

Lyubov Bobova comes from the Strugo-Krasnensky district, which is located in the north of the Pskov region. I started playing volleyball in the sixth grade, when Vladimir Silchenko, a graduate of the Smolensk Institute of Physical Culture, opened a section at a school in a working-class village. He instilled a love for volleyball, with which our heroine goes throughout her life.

After school, Lyubov Bobova entered the Vitebsk Technical School of Physical Education. Logoisk near Minsk was offered for distribution. But coach Anatoly Zavadsky came from Shumilino, thanks to whom volleyball became the number one sport in the region, and offered vacancies at the Youth Sports School. She started at the branch of the sports school in the city village of Obol. In the first set was Lyudmila Kharkovets, who had long become a colleague of Lyubov Vasilievna. Then there was a short period of work in Bolbasovo, Orsha district and a return to Shumilino, again on the persistent recommendation of Anatoly Zavadsky, who gave a lot in professional development.

In 2017, the Shumilinskaya Sports and Youth Sports School became the winner of the Spartakiad among the Youth and Youth Sports Schools of Belarus. Lyubov Bobova was involved in the success of volleyball players of that generation.

Now Lyubov Vasilievna, together with her student and young specialist Dmitry Ananyev, leads a team of young men born in 2011. They participate in the republican competitions of the children's and youth volleyball league "Ball over the net". The tournament is held under the auspices of the Presidential Sports Club and the Belarusian Volleyball Federation. In addition to the Shumilians, the league includes teams from Minsk (two), Gomel, Grodno, Brest, Bobruisk, Molodechno, Zhlobin, Glubokoe. Tours have already taken place in Molodechno, Brest and Gomel. In March there will be a trip to Zhlobin, where the four best teams will be finally determined, which will compete for prizes in Minsk in May.

Lyubov Bobova, together with her husband Sergei, who unfortunately recently passed away, raised three sons. The senior and middle ones work as assistant drivers in Polotsk. Alexander drives freight trains, Andrey drives a high-speed business class train from Polotsk to Minsk. The younger Mikhail trained as a power engineer and works in Gomel.

Last December, a ceremony dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Belarusian volleyball was held in the Minsk “Dipservice Hall”. It was attended by veterans of this sport, active athletes, coaches, and judges. Coaches from Shumilino Lyubov Bobova and Alexey Parshikov also received an invitation to attend the meeting of the domestic volleyball elite, which indicates recognition of their contribution to the development of their favorite sport.