Ottó Prouza

Ottó Prouza started his sports career as a footballer with the Salgótarján Tűzhelygyár. However, following injury, his mother banned him from playing football and he was then invited by his friends to join a local volleyball team in 1949. He was just aged 16 at the time, but two years later he was invited to join the national team. Prouza moved to Budapest in 1952 and joined the Vasas team, with whom he spent two decades. During his time with them, Prouza won four silver and four bronze medals in the Hungarian Championship. He played for the national team 154 times between 1956-65 including the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, when the team finished sixth. He also participated in three World and three European Championships, with best finishes of second in the 1963 Europeans in Romania, and sixth in the 1960 Worlds in Brazil.

After the end of his playing career, Prouza worked as coach for more than 30 years. He achieved his greatest success with Csepel, and won the Hungarian Championship seven times and the cup on eight occasions. They were also once runners-up in the Cup Winners’ Cup