It was an offer American Jeremiah Estes couldn't refuse. Marry the daughter of Russia's most respected coach and get a job as assistant trainer of the Russian Volleyball Federation as well.
'It's not a defection,' insists 28-year-old Estes, the former American national women's team assistant coach, who joined the Russian team in one of the most surprising moves ever made by an American sports figure. 'The situation was that I had to stay with my wife by moving to Russia. There were no job offers when I was staying in Hawaii at the time. Russia has a very good programme and I had to make a decision when the offer came. I chose to move to Russia.'
Estes, known as 'Jerry' to his friends, is married to Russian head coach Nicolai Karpol's 23-year-old daughter, Nadia, in a seal of trust that is the first in volleyball - and probably the first in any major sport between two different cultures.
Not since Dallas Mavericks coach Donnie Nelson, who joined the Lithuanian basketball team as assistant coach at the Sydney Olympics two years ago, has there been an American 'defection' of this kind.
'It's a good opportunity for me to learn. Nicolai [Karpol] has been coaching for a long time and he is passing some of his knowledge to me. He is a very good coach and a good father-in-law. We're all involved in volleyball and we share the same goals,' said Estes.
Estes, who is half Japanese and previously lived in Hawaii, met Karpol's daughter at a tournament in Switzerland in 1999. They fell in love and kept contact by e-mail until Estes won her hand in marriage after the Sydney Olympics in 2000 in a 'package'' that included the job of assistant trainer in Russia.