Competing in several sports, Ctirad Benáček was primarily a basketball player. He joined the Czechoslovakian team in 1948 when they played at the London Olympics. He captained the team at a match in Italy in 1949, when Benáček chose to remain in Italy to escape the communist regime in his home country. After a year, he arrived in New Zealand, carrying little else but his basketball. Disappointed in the growing professionalism in his first sport, he switched to volleyball, his second love. He became the “grandfather of volleyball” in his new country, as a longtime coach and administrator in various functions. Known as “Big Ben” (after his surname and height), Benáček also spread the sport to other countries as part of an FIVB programme.
Czechoslovakia
Czechia