He was the first-ever French player to reach 1000 goals for the national team. He also won titles with the French national team and on the club side. He was one of the first Europeans to play club handball in Japan. But after he left handball in 2005, the real adventure started for Frederic Volle – one of the best-ever wing players to do it. GoHandball gives you a heartfelt and open interview with the 58-year-old legend.
– From the moment I stopped playing handball, I wanted to learn and experience new things. I try to enjoy life to the fullest, Frederic Volle says to GoHandball.
I took weeks of trying to find him and get in contact with him, but eventually, Frederic Volle got back to us and immediately agreed to be interviewed about his life after handball. And what a life it has been so far for the former left wing.
The plan was to do a phone interview, only audio, but the 58-year-old started our conversation by giving us a virtual tour around his huge house with views of the pool and the ocean. Considering that the weather in Sweden, where yours truly is based, was even more grey than a normal day in January, it was hard not to be jealous.



– We absolutely love it here, Volle says, whilst lighting something.
“We” are Frederic and his Canadian wife. And they have lived in Panama for a few years, after buying the land and then building their spacious home.
– We have traveled quite a bit and always enjoyed this part of the world. And Panama is the best country there is. Here are not as many tourists as in Costa Rica, but Panama is even greener. So we found a nice piece of land and built a house, ready for an early retirement, says Frederic and laughs (which he does quite a lot during our time speaking).
– When we were done with the house we started to think about what to do next because we were not that old (again, big contagius laugh). So we opened a property management company and even though it’s mostly my wife that runs it I try to help in this nice neighborhood where we take care of lots of nice houses for rich people. And the rest of the time I enjoy surfing, fishing, a lot of good food, and a lot of nice social time.
The couple live five hours from Panama City. Frederic tells us that it’s super quiet and away from the big tourist spots. But also close to the beach, a beach where a stage of the World Cup of surfing has been organized two times.




But how in the world did Frederic Volle and his wife end up in Panama of all places? To tell that story we have to rewind a bit to his playing career. Frederic Volle was only 17 years old when he made his professional debut in France, where he started his career in Nimes.
– I was in the well-known French school system that combined studies with sports. And I played for the youth national team as well and up to the men’s national team, Frederic says, naming the clubs he played for during his illustrious career: Nimes, Marseille, Wallau-Massenheim in Germany, and finally Honda in Japan.
The first French ever player to score 1000 goals for the national team
As a national team player Volle and his French teammates won the bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics. One year later they won a silver medal at the World Championship in Sweden, before finally breaking through and winning France’s first-ever gold medal at a World Championship in Iceland in 1995. Volle had 248 caps with the national team and was the first ever French player to score 1000 goals for the national team, a feat that Jerome Fernandez, Nikola Karabatic, and Michael Guigou have done since.
– I had a chance to play with great players and therefore I was a part of both club teams and a national team that won titles. But that’s not what I am most proud of. I am the most proud of what the French generation after us did – they did something exceptional by winning everything there is to win. I think we opened the door for them because we inspired a lot of French kids to play handball.
– I mean, when I started to play for the national team we were the 25th-best team in the world and we competed in B- and C World Championships.


In 1998 the prolific scorer left Europe to try a new adventure in Japan. He played and coached simultaneously before moving to Germany to coach Kronau/Östringen in the 2004-05 season. After six months in Germany Volle got fired – and then his new life began.
– In the very same year, 2005, my wife and I took a vacation in Canada. After spending six months there we decided not to come back to the handball world and instead start a new life in Canada. The first year I was waiting for all of the papers to get ready so I could get a job and during that period I finally had time to do a lot of snowboarding, which I love. Also, a lot of golf and biking because I love outdoor activities.
Moved to “Bear City”
Frederic tells us that his wife grew up in Calgary in the western part of Canada. The couple moved to British Columbia, a city called Kelowna, which means “bear” in the native language.
– It’s a very pretty place on the lake. This is wear they grow all the wine in Canada, because of the warm summers and the fact that it never gets super cold.
– It’s the most beautiful part of the world I have ever seen, and I have been to a lot of places. To discover a new country and a new culture is something I love.
After enjoying his free time for about a year he got a job working in construction. At that time he was 41 years old. During four years Frederic learned how to build houses, which helped him later in life when he moved to Panama and needed to build himself a house. After four years in construction, the restless soul wanted to do something else and it was then his wife, who already worked in the police department, recommended he apply for a job.
– I passed my exam and started working for the Canadian police, as a peace officer in the K9 unit. And I worked there for ten years. My former teammates always laugh when they hear about this – probably because it was the last job they expected me to do.
– I have never been the type of person who can sit in an office and work in front of a desk for ten hours a day. That’s why this job was perfect for me – I was outside a lot and I was probably the coolest cop in town, he laughs.


When Frederic turned 55 he and his wife decided that it was time to do something different. And they wanted to move to a warmer place. Panama was, as mentioned before, their choice of where to build a new life. And when you listen to the charismatic Frederic talk about his life it’s easy to understand why he thrives.
– It’s almost like retirement. I do whatever I want to do and try to enjoy it all. The freedom to do whatever I feel like doing is the best feeling after living in Canada and Japan where there were a lot of rules.
What do you dream about? Do you have any plans for the future?
– I am what you would call an opportunist. I never really make up plans in advance because that could take away some other opportunities. Right now we don’t want to leave Panama, but who knows where we will live ten years from now. We met in Japan 24 years ago and have lived in a lot of countries. Go back to France? I miss the people that I love but I don’t miss the culture.
You could easily describe Frederic Volle as a “Bon Vivant”, always leaving the door open for great experiences. That’s why it’s no surprise to hear that he doesn’t miss handball, although he would like to watch more games live in the arenas.
– I watch some games on TV. But last year I went back to France and saw Montpellier play a home game. That was an amazing experience and something I would like to do more often. Just to get a chance to meet all of my former friends, teammates, and opponents. Some of us were enemies at the time but now we can enjoy a beer or two together, says Frederic Volle.

