Iván Contreras | |||||||
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Personal information | |||||||
Full name | Gerardo Iván Contreras Gámez | ||||||
Nationality | Mexico | ||||||
Born |
Tampico, Mexico |
January 29, 1974 ||||||
Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||||||
Weight | 96 kg (212 lb) | ||||||
Spike | 345 cm (136 in) | ||||||
Block | 335 cm (132 in) | ||||||
Volleyball information | |||||||
Position | Opposite/Wing Spiker | ||||||
Current club | Leones de Ponce | ||||||
Number | 7 | ||||||
Career | |||||||
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National team | |||||||
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Honours
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Last updated: November 2011 |
Gerardo Iván Contreras Gámez (born January 29, 1974 in Tampico) is a Mexican professional volleyball player. He currently plays for Knack Roeselare in Belgium . His position on the field is outside hitter. Contreras has been voted player of the year in 2005, 2007 and 2008 in Belgium. Contreras is also captain of Knack Roeselare.
Contreras attended Penn State University where he won an NCAA National Championship as a freshman and was named the AVCA National Player of the Year in 1997.
Among Contreras' former teams are Osnabrück in Germany, MTV Näfels in Switzerland, Knack Roeselare in Belgium and Ziraat Bankası Ankara in Turkey.
In 2004, he won the MVP award from the Liga de Voleibol Superior Masculino, playing with Gigantes de Adjuntas. He played for this team from 2002 to 2006.
Before playing volleyball, Contreras was practicing athletics, especially hurdling, high jump and long jump. Contreras had also tried karate and tennis, but he was tired of individual sports and started to play volleyball, which he preferred over basketball.
On May 27, 2008, Contreras revealed that he will sign a lucrative one-year deal with Ziraat Bankası Ankara. He returned to Roeselare after one season.