Mirka Francia

Mirka Francia Vasconcelos (born 14 February 1975, in Villa Clara) is a Cuban-Italian volleyball player who has won two Olympic gold medals with the Cuba women's national volleyball team. At 1.84 meters (6 ft) tall, she played as a blocker before becoming a hitter in 2004.

Mirka Francia
Personal information
Full nameMirka Francia Vasconcelos
NationalityCuba/Italy
Born (1975-02-14) February 14, 1975
Villa Clara, Cuba
HometownPerugia
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Spike324 cm (128 in)
Block310 cm (122 in)
Volleyball information
PositionWing Spiker
Current clubTop Quality Group San Giustino
Number14
National team
1991-2000Cuba
Honours
Women's Volleyball
Representing Cuba
Olympic Games
1996 AtlantaTeam
2000 SydneyTeam
World Championship
1994 Brazil Team
1998 Japan Team
World Grand Champions Cup
1997 Tokyo Team
FIVB World Cup
1999 Japan Team
World Grand Prix
1993 Team
2000 Team
1994 Team
1996 Team
1997 Team
1995 Team
1998 Team
NORCECA Championship
1991 Regina Team
1993 Colorado Springs Team
1995 Santo Domingo Team
1997 Caguas Team
1999 Monterrey Team
Pan American Games
1991 Santo Domingo Team
1995 Santo Domingo Team
1999 Santo Domingo Team
Last updated: March 2010

Life and career

Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, Francia first played volleyball at age ten and joined the junior national team in Havana four years later. With the national team she won two gold medals, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta and at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She also played on the Cuban national team that won the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship in 1994 and 1998.

In the 1998-1999 season she played for Romanelli Firenze in the Italian second division before joining Sirio Perugia for the following season. She skipped the 2000-2001 season because of pregnancy, but rejoined Sirio Perugia the next year. With the team she has won the Italian Championship three times (2002–2003, 2004–2005, 2006–2007) and the Italian Cup two times (2003, 2005), also winning the Women's CEV Champions League in 2006 and 2008 also being awarded "Best Spiker",[1] and the 2007 CEV Cup when she was awarded "Best Scorer".[2] She acquired Italian citizenship in 2004, but has declined to play for the Italy women's national volleyball team due to family matters.

For season 2008/2009 she started playing for the Turkish team Eczacibasi Istanbul. With this team she won the "Best Scorer" title for the Champions League regular season 2009[3] and the Best Spiker, Best Server and Top Scorer of the 2009 Turkish Championship.[4]

Clubs

Awards

Individuals

Clubs
  • 2000 Copa Coppe - Champion, with Despar Perugia
  • 2003 Italian Cup - Champion, with Despar Perugia
  • 2003 Italian Championship - Champion, with Despar Perugia
  • 2005 Italian Cup - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2005 CEV Cup - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2005 Italian Championship - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2005–06 CEV Indesit Champions League - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2006 Coppa di Lega - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2007 Italian Cup - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2007 CEV Cup - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2007 Italian Championship - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2007 Italian Super Cup - Champion, with Sirio Perugia
  • 2007–08 CEV Indesit Champions League - Champion, with Colussi Perugia
  • 2009 Turkish Championship - Runner-Up, with Eczacibasi Zentiva Istanbul
  • 2011 Turkish Cup - Champion, with Eczacıbaşı VitrA

References
  1. CEV. "Second Indesit Champions' League trophy for Colussi PERUGIA". Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  2. CEV. "Sirio perugia wins CEV cup after Champions League". Archived from the original on 2009-11-24. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  3. Voleibol Portol. "Stepanenko y Contreras galardonados por la CEV como mejores jugadores de la primera fase de la Champions" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
  4. Volleyball.it. "Turchia: Il Fenerbahce vince il campionato femminile" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
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