Iván Contreras

Gerardo Iván Contreras Gámez (born January 29, 1974, in Tampico) is a former Mexican professional volleyball player. 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.

In recognition of his performance during the 2009, he won the ''"Luchador Olmeca"'' award in January, 2010. Provided by Wikipedia