Barbara Czekalla

Barbara Czekalla was on the East German volleyball team that won the bronze medal at the 1975 European Championships. In 1977 and 1979, she added two more silver medals at the Europeans. In 1976, she played at the Montréal Olympics, but the GDR team lost all its matches, including the match for fifth place against Cuba. Four years later at Moskva she won a silver medal, losing twice against the Soviet Union both in the preliminary round and the final by 3-1 in sets. Czekalla earned 229 international caps.

Domestically, Czekalla played with SC Dynamo Berlin from 1969-82 and helped them win the East German Championships from 1972-75 and 1978-79. She was also on the squad winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1978.

Czekalla later worked with her home club in several departments until German re-unification. She became Regional Chief Coach of the Berlin Volleyball Federation from 2009-11. She also coached regional clubs. In her youth she was an athlete and handball player. Her father was an opera singer and her brother Michael a football (soccer) coach.