Team Into the future with Christophe Achten

Christophe Achten remains head coach of SWD powervolleys Düren: the 47-year-old Belgian has extended his contract by three years. Achten has been working in Düren since 2024. Their story together is far from over, he says – they want to write more exciting chapters together.

The next step

Achten wants to keep the sporting progress going. In the 2024/25 season Düren only narrowly lost the DVV Cup final, and in the 2025/26 season the team has so far broken into the Bundesliga’s top three. Now the work is about taking the next step.

That is why planning for next season is already under way, without losing sight of the current one. Düren are currently third in a strong and exciting league. Achten wants to hold that place and perhaps go one step further in the playoffs – the team has what it takes.

Plenty of good reasons for Düren

Achten sees Düren as a club that has recently taken many steps in the right direction. SWD powervolleys have long been both family-like and professional. With growing sporting success and the show elements at home matches, the club has also managed to increase attendance.

Achten wants to keep contributing to this development. The new long-term contract also fits well with his family life in Belgium. For him, that adds up to plenty of good reasons for Düren.

The same volleyball philosophy

Managing director Tomas Kocian-Falkenbach is pleased that a key personnel question for the future has been answered. The past two years have shown that Achten is exactly the right coach for Düren: he has played a major part in the sporting success and identifies 100 percent with the club.

For Kocian-Falkenbach it also matters that their ideas of volleyball match. Achten thinks “out of the box” and finds unconventional solutions to improve the team’s game. He looks not only at the next match but at how the team develops over the whole season. That fits Düren’s idea of volleyball very well.