Robert Horstink’s alphabet

  • Is old - March 2008 - but maybe some of you would like to know about Robert Horstink a little bit more so I decided to translate it ;) Source: Polish Magazine 'Świat Siatkówki'


    A - Amy
    Amy is the name of my beloved daughter, who was born late November 2007. Exactly a week later I had to go to the prequalification tournament to Catania. If the coach did not allow me to see my child before the tournament, I would not come for training camp. My life changed completely. Now she is the most important. The hardest thing for me is that I can not be constantly beside her. Fortunately, we are able to arrange our life to always make her feel my presence, even when I have to leave. I have become a more responsible man. I help my wife as much as I can. Sometimes I stay during the night with Amy. Wendy is appreciative. She can be compassionate. When an important match is coming up, she does everything so that I do not have to hear her cry, so I did not have to get up in the middle of the night.


    B - Breitling
    My favorite brand of watches. They are very expensive, so I have only two in my collection. They are enormous, and such ones I like most. I'm a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to brand-name company. I love the Rolex watches also. This model, which I am now wearing, was created specially for Bentley. There are only a hundred of them in the world, so I am doubly proud that one of them belongs to me. Alberto Cisolla helped me in that, his friend is a collector and he managed to bring me one of them. I like punctuality, I like to know what time it is.


    C - Computer
    I use the laptop every day. I update my website, I check e-mail. Currently every volleyball player has his laptop, which is used primarily for contact with the family during the training camps or travels. sometimes I play with colleagues from the club and staff. We gather in one room on the floor, with millions of cables on the floor, everyone sits with his laptop on his lap and have fun. We love shooters, it gives us much joy and also the reasons for jokes. On the Internet, I usually look for automotive news and I communicate with friends. Once a website constructing company came to me and proposed creation of my own site. I agreed without hesitation. After the matches, I try to add my own comments, photos. I get signals that it is visited by many people. I invite you cordially http://www.roberthorstink.com


    D - Disco
    I am not someone, who spends every weekend at parties. I like discos, but I attend them very irregularly. It became a tradition that when I come back after a season in Italy, we go to a party together with friends. I've never considered myself a great dancer, but I like sometimes to twist on the floor. For me disco is associated with more meeting with your friends than just fun on the dance floor.

  • E - European Championships 2007
    It was a moment when our team saw that, we can play volleyball. Earlier we were eliminated after the first round. Then we started playing a bit differently, changed our generation, we returned to frequently play by the middle, because our middle blockers play really great. We saw then that we can win with stronger teams. Previously, none of us would bet a penny that we would beat Poland, Spain and Germany. We started to believe. On the last day of our visit they took us for a tour of Moscow. Sightseeing is the last thing that I like to do, so I would complain without a break, to finally stop in front of a pizzeria. I have never been interested in monuments, sightseeing. It probably came from the fact that I moved out of the house when I was 18 years old. For many years I have lived away from my parents, I saw a really huge chunk of the world and therefore I no longer have the soul of the explorer.


    F - Family
    I am very family guy. I could not live without my two girls, wife Wendy and daughter Amy. Now, when we live in Treviso, practically every weekend we are visited by our friends from the Netherlands. They help us greatly, especially now - when we have a little child. Very often we host my parents or in-laws. We spend every Christmas together. I care about my family, because after I left home at a young age I know what loneliness means.


    G - Guido Goertzen
    On the training camps we always live in one room. When I came to the team, I was seventeen, when Guido was a big star, so living with him was for me great joy and honor. On the court he is very aggressive, but in private he is a mine of jokes. He does not stand a moment without funny comments. For a short time has not played in the national team because of a surgery, but fortunately he returned to our team. He's a great player, though he plays on my position (laughs). He always says to me, however, that if I play well, I'm a much better player than him. If I have a problem, he comes and plays. This is the teamwork.


    H - Humor
    It seems to me that we are one of the craziest teams in the world. Not a moment we can not endure without the jokes. We all love to fool around. When I joined the team in 2000 it already has been so. Sense of humor is probably our national trait. If somebody saw us at the joint dinner, he would not have the best view of us. Trommel, Goertzen and I are three that can not live without the jokes. It is enough that someone says something that the rest of us associates differently, and we have reason for jokes for the next few hours. In this respect we are like a little bit similar to the Brazilians, who also have a great atmosphere in the team. It is also very necessary in the context of building a true team.

  • I - Injury
    Is unfortunately the dark side of my career. When I was seventeen, I went had a knee surgery, last year I had surgery related to injury of the shoulder. Many people said that this had been the end of my career. I was very lucky that people in Treviso believed in me and helped much then. In spite of this - there's always something that hurts. This is apparently normal. Some players can not play with pain. They quit. I do not, although it is not easy.


    J - Jump
    For me is a very important part of the game of volleyball. I always like players who can jump high such as Leonel Marshall and Mariusz Wlazły. If I could not jump, I would not be a good player. Jumping to the attack is not just 'go' through the block, but also to circumvent it, attacking the block-out. For each play you need a jump.

    K - Kleding (clothes)
    I love designer clothes. If I could, I would have worn only Dolce & Gabbana. I experience the real torment, when at the training camps we have to wear sports gear and we all look the same. Some colleagues do not mind, and wear representation clothes even in private life. I do not. I like the look originally, I like to dress well. It never happened to me to go for training in sports gear. I always take it with me and I dress up on the spot. I do not want to be accused snobbery, I do not spend everything for clothes, I just prefer jeans and a t-shirt from the tracksuit.


    L - Left-handed
    I'm a special case when it comes to left-handedness. In the past ten years I played tennis and always hit ball with my left hand, which was incomprehensible to coaches. Today also, if the ball is badly passed I always lob with left hand, because with the right one I would not target the ball. However, normally when I jump into the attack, I attack with right. I've been with this case to the doctors who have carried out some experiments on me, after which they said that it probably lies in my head that if I have a worse ball – I automatically raise my left arm. Every day I write with the left, but normally I attack with right.


    M - Music
    I could not live without music. I always have my radio turned on the in the car and it's quite loud. I like very different music. As I said - sometimes I go to discos and dance. Music reminds me also of many special moments in my life, the life of my family. It was on one of the clubs where I met my current wife. I do not sing because I can not. When I travel with the club or the national team, I always have with my Ipod with a lot of recorded sounds. Now I'm at the stage of hip-hop, but when I drive my car with my wife and child, I listen to something lighter.


    N - Noliko Maaseik
    For two years I played in Belgium, in Noliko’s team. It was a very important moment in my career. In Holland, everyone I repeat, I'm good, I have a great career before me, but when I entered on the court – I did not play well. I felt a pressure of the entire environment on me. Only when I moved to Belgium and I had more freedom, I started to play well. After the second season spent in Belgium, I was doing well enough that I could choose a team where I wanted to play, because I received a lot of proposals from around the world. Playing in Noliko opened the door to an international career. When we played against Skra Bełchatów, the people from Bełchatów asked me about the opportunity to join their team, but I was already after signature of the contract with Sisley Treviso. However, I did not say no to Poland, because I know how interesting your league is, what attention of fans and media it faces.

  • O - Olympic Games
    I will not be original if I say: that is my biggest dream, unfortunately, the Netherlands will not travel to Beijing. Eight years ago in Atlanta I was close to participation in the Olympics, but a few days before I injured my back, which eliminated me from fighting for a place in the squad for the Games. After the Games in Athens, which already went, I tattooed the Olympic rings, which I have on right ankle in the leg, it is a reminder that I was at the Olympic Games as I had always dreamed. For each athlete it is the most important tournament of his career. I remember really well the Olympics in Athens. We won then with Russia, but later, probably it was too soon to believe that we are in the semifinals. We lost a few more games, and we took ninth place. During the tournament in Izmir, we were really close. We came up to the semifinals. We failed to win it, because the Serbs played a great match and as it turned out, they won the whole qualification.


    P - Pipe
    It's my favorite form of attack. They say that it's my trademark. I really like this moment when I jump and I follow block of the opposite team. Then I have a split second to attack in a place where they do not move their hands. It's probably the hardest form of attack for blocking in the opposing team. If it is played at a tempo, the rivals have virtually no chance of defending the ball. In this regard get on well with Pierre Pujol, who he likes to play crazy balls, his solutions surprise opponents, and I can attack without the block. I never think where the line is, I jump automatically. When you do not know the hall too well, there are ‘cross the line’ errors sometimes, but usually I do not pay attention to it.


    Q - Q7 Audi
    It is my newest car, actually not quite yet it is mine, since I am just going to buy it. I recently sold my previous one and now I'm waiting for this gem. Audi Q7 is huge, beautiful and very expensive, but I am crazy about good cars. In Italy, the rule is that Serie A players have big rebates on Audi and Volkswagen cars. This also influenced the decision that I decided to spend money on it. We argue with my wife about the color, she would like black, and I like the white. Although as I know my wife we will buy black at the end (laughs).


    R - Rotterdam
    The staff training is always there. One of the sponsors provided us with its hall, where we prepare for games. Unfortunately this is quite far from my town. Every day, two-way trip takes me four hours. It is also one of the reasons why I consider ending playing in the national team. Not just me, though. We've talked about it with other players and the federation. If after the Olympics, nothing will change, several other players and I will stop playing in the national team. Federation is fine with this hall, because they do not pay for it.


    S - Supporters
    They are very important for me. I really want to play well when many fans watch matches. I hate to play at the empty halls. During the qualification in Izmir, I felt like a normal training. That should not be so. Therefore, for example I like to play in Poland. Last year I was there twice, first in August in Olsztyn, later in October in Jastrzebie. In Poland, the halls are always full of spectators. Every volleyball match should look like that. Sometimes atmosphere is felt in Italy and it really helps the players. Everyone thinks that we play for ourselves, but the truth is that each of us wants to show people. I need people, I feel better when the halls are full. I always try for good contact with supporters. I really appreciate that someone wants to come and watch us. There was never a problem for me handing out autographs or taking a photo with supporters. I am getting many emails from people. They're very nice. In the Netherlands there are no such supporters like in Poland. Many people come to watch volleyball, but if someone starts to sing at the game, cheer, others look at him with a strange look.

  • T - Treviso
    It's a city where I live and play now. The club offered me a great apartment, which I like very much. In the club keep up with Stefan Hübner and Alberto Cisolla. "Ciso", like me, is crazy about cars, so we have a lot to talk about. It seems to me that Serie A is still the best league in the world. The best players from around the world still want to play in Italy, in each team there are representatives from around the world.


    U - Usher
    This American rapper is my favorite artist. I have on DVD, many of his concerts, I really like his music, his lyrics. Unfortunately, he have never been in the Netherlands, and my dream is to go for some of his concert. My wife also admires him very much and I hope that in future we will have the opportunity to jointly explore for some of its performance.


    V - Volleyball
    Is my whole life. I can not imagine a day without training and matches. In volleyball I like the most pleasure of wining. I started training when I was four years old. Still I greatly like this game, I'm glad that I can play volleyball for living. I like to train, I like to play. I never felt like a star in the Dutch national team and never will be viewed so. I know my value and I know I can play volleyball. I dedicated my education to it. I finished only high school, I do not have any higher education. Although I began studies in the field of space planning, but I did not even finished the first year. Now I know that when I choose a new path after the volleyball career, I certainly will not come back to the that direction.


    W - Wendy
    My wife. We are together eleven years. We met when we both were fifteen and we were still kids. We laugh now that we are like the good old couple. We know everything about ourselves, even though we're completely different people. We could not live alone. Wendy goes sometimes for a few days to Holland, but in the long run, we could not live without each other. We met at a disco, it turned out that we were from the same city in the Netherlands. She always knows exactly in what mood I am. She knows when I want to talk, or when I want to stay alone. Wendy has never had anything to do with volleyball, but now whenever she can she comes to matches and supports me. She does it, although does not understand the rules of the game. She just likes watching volleyball.


    X - X5 BMW
    For a long time I drove BMW X5. Before I had the only sports car, now I have a family so I switched to large family cars. I've never had any accident or even a bump, even when I drive fast, I'm careful. When I want to push the pedal harder, I just remember the tragic death of the Polish middle blocker. That's enough to take the foot off the gas. My friends laugh that after my career is finished I will not become a coach, just open the car showroom. I know absolutely everything about cars.

    Z - Zonnen (Sunbathing)
    I could not live without summer vacation. I love it when the sun is shining. Last year my wife and I went on a vacation to Mexico. For three weeks we did absolutely nothing. There are people who going on a holiday visit the city, walk in the mountains but we laid out for three weeks on the beach. I could not live like that non-stop, but for a few weeks a year, why not? We went further from Mexico to Spain and once again all the time we did not do absolutely anything. When we went to Sicily, we did not want to even go see the volcano. When I returned from my travels mom asked if I brought some pictures and I said that, yes, but on each one we lying on the beach (laughs). Throughout the year, I train hard, so my dream vacation means the beach and doing nothing all day.

  • Thank you very much, Justyna :flower: :flower: :flower: