• Old? Even Maret is just 32 and I think she is the most experienced/oldest player. I do think Dutch team should produce new players but getting rid of this generation entirely wouldn’t help. They should pick whoever would be useful and proceed with them as well as their young players. Lonneke is not old, she could be still useful to Dutch team or wherever she plays. Luckily, She had other options and she is using them. I would really like to see her back but if she doesn’t feel like it, I wish her the best. She was a great player to watch.

    Maret is like a libero now and dutch gave good ones

    Maybe for receive

    When I say old generation is like that playrrs with +30

  • Because there wasn't much volleyball played in 2020, they've decided not to hand out the Ingrid Visser award for best volleyball player of the year 2020. instead, they introduced the GOAT (Greatest of all time) award for best volleyball player in the Netherlands. The following players have been nominated for the women:

    - Robin de Kruijf

    - Ingrid Visser

    - Lonneke Sloëtjes

    - Cintha Boersma

    - Henriëtte Weersing

    - Martje de Vries


    I think the nominees are deservedly, only I had added Manon Flier. In my opinion, she has meant a lot to Dutch volleyball.


    You can vote until December 29 true the link below:

    https://volleybalkrant.us7.lis…2d2f234b3fd&id=74ef2e551c

  • Manon Flier should be awarded the best player IMO. It's weird that she hasn't even been nominated. I will vote for Visser.

  • I am so shocked they didn't considered leferink

    I didn't know about her and just some months ago i watch some old games and she was amazing


    She deserves

  • Lefferink and Flier?:what:

  • Interview with Celeste Plak in a Dutch newspaper:

    She explains why she is taking a sabbatical from volleyball. The main reason is the immense pressure in the club season. They expect the players to give it their all and will break down the players when they lose or don't play good. This in combination with the packed agenda for both the club season and the national team season, made her constantly think about volleyball so she couldn't take a mental break. As a result, she had panic attacks on the volleyball court.


    Now she can allow emotions again and she mainly found peace. A sports psychologist helped her with this. At the end of November she started training again with the talent team under the leadership of new national coach Selinger. It dind't felt weird being back on the volleyball court. She has not yet made a decision on whether to make a permanent return to volleyball. For the time being she is neutral in it. Partly because she will guide youth in deprived neighborhoods. The new appointment of Selinger as head coach could positively influence her return, as he is an empathetic person and easy to communicate with.

    https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2020…r-je-heen-pissen-a4025012

  • I hope she find her groove... When she's fit and in form, she is a monster of a player


    About that part "he is an empathetic person and easy to communicate with", wasn't he supposed to be a hard person to deal with which had a lot of problems with players in the past?

  • I hope she find her groove... When she's fit and in form, she is a monster of a player


    About that part "he is an empathetic person and easy to communicate with", wasn't he supposed to be a hard person to deal with which had a lot of problems with players in the past?

    Yes he is. Maybe he has changed? I don't know😅 Easy communication mainly focused on the fact that he speaks Dutch, which makes it easier to understand each other.

  • Same as with Lonny, I doubt she will ever return to volleyball when I read this interview. Chances are a bit higher because she's younger, but if she decides to do other things the NT has a huge problem. There's no backup opposite who can easily take Sloetjes' or Plak's role in the near future. Except Floortje Meijners, of which I also doubt she'll ever come back to the national team.


    I think it's generally known that players/coaches don't like the current VNL formula, but Celeste said that everyone in her the team finds it "terrible". On the one hand I love that the FIVB is expanding volleyball over the world, on the other and more important side; players or teams should never be the victims of it. I'm wondering if the FIVB listens to all these signals from both indoor and beachplayers and will come up with a better formula or schedule. Otherwise their goal might work out in the opposite direction..

  • I think it’s even harder for players from countries where don’t have their own high level volleyball leagues to play under such compact schedules. Right after the super draining NT season, club season begins. When they play in foreign leagues, they are always expected to perform better than the domestic players as the clubs pay more to hire them. The clubs and fans would expect the foreign players to become the ace players of the team, especially when you’re playing as Opp.


    I can imagine the immense pressure Lonneke & Celeste faced in their last club season. Both didn’t do very well in the club, then in the middle of the club season, they had to deal with the cruel Olympics qualification tournament. It’s exhausting both physically and mentally.

  • Same as with Lonny, I doubt she will ever return to volleyball when I read this interview. Chances are a bit higher because she's younger, but if she decides to do other things the NT has a huge problem. There's no backup opposite who can easily take Sloetjes' or Plak's role in the near future. Except Floortje Meijners, of which I also doubt she'll ever come back to the national team.


    I think it's generally known that players/coaches don't like the current VNL formula, but Celeste said that everyone in her the team finds it "terrible". On the one hand I love that the FIVB is expanding volleyball over the world, on the other and more important side; players or teams should never be the victims of it. I'm wondering if the FIVB listens to all these signals from both indoor and beachplayers and will come up with a better formula or schedule. Otherwise their goal might work out in the opposite direction..

    It seems Lonny wants to take a break but not completely quit. At least that's how I view it. Hoping she'll still give it a go without forcing her

  • It seems Lonny wants to take a break but not completely quit. At least that's how I view it. Hoping she'll still give it a go without forcing her

    Reading her last interview,I got the opposite impression. It seemed that at least for club season she’s good to retire. She seems really happy without volleyball.


    I second the sentiment about the foreign players. Even when playing with their respective national teams it’s not like they’re home all the time with all the tournaments that go on during the summer. Can’t be easy...

  • Sloëtjes eventually won the GOAT award! Congrats to her:):cup:


    https://www.volleybalkrant.nl/…vallen-ook-in-de-prijzen/

  • Deserved imo, people tend to underestimate her because she isn't in the legend status (it tends to be used for older players/generations) but I think looking back in a few years we will realise more how important she was both in bringing glory to the Dutch NT in competitions like the Olympics and many others as well as her incredible club career, particularly her run in VB imo where she was definitely among the best Opps in the world easily imho and in a team that we could definitely see as a legendary squad.


    What sets her apart from some others that in theory have a more... let's say powerful wrist... to me is that she is an incredible team-player and this matters and is noticeable in a TEAM sport like volleyball. She likes to work together with her teammates rather than focusing on individual success. Zhu Ting is Zhu Ting but players like Lonneke, Gözde, Naz, Milena, Gizem etc. made it the legendary Vakif quad :cup:


    She is def. among my favorite players of all time (should edit my list and add more players tbh but I'm lazy 8o)

  • Deserved imo, people tend to underestimate her because she isn't in the legend status (it tends to be used for older players/generations) but I think looking back in a few years we will realise more how important she was both in bringing glory to the Dutch NT in competitions like the Olympics and many others as well as her incredible club career, particularly her run in VB imo where she was definitely among the best Opps in the world easily imho and in a team that we could definitely see as a legendary squad.


    What sets her apart from some others that in theory have a more... let's say powerful wrist... to me is that she is an incredible team-player and this matters and is noticeable in a TEAM sport like volleyball. She likes to work together with her teammates rather than focusing on individual success. Zhu Ting is Zhu Ting but players like Lonneke, Gözde, Naz, Milena, Gizem etc. made it the legendary Vakif quad :cup:


    She is def. among my favorite players of all time (should edit my list and add more players tbh but I'm lazy 8o)

    Well spoken!;):obey:

  • Deserved imo, people tend to underestimate her because she isn't in the legend status (it tends to be used for older players/generations) but I think looking back in a few years we will realise more how important she was both in bringing glory to the Dutch NT in competitions like the Olympics and many others as well as her incredible club career, particularly her run in VB imo where she was definitely among the best Opps in the world easily imho and in a team that we could definitely see as a legendary squad.


    What sets her apart from some others that in theory have a more... let's say powerful wrist... to me is that she is an incredible team-player and this matters and is noticeable in a TEAM sport like volleyball. She likes to work together with her teammates rather than focusing on individual success. Zhu Ting is Zhu Ting but players like Lonneke, Gözde, Naz, Milena, Gizem etc. made it the legendary Vakif quad :cup:


    She is def. among my favorite players of all time (should edit my list and add more players tbh but I'm lazy 8o)

    I also think it's deserved. Best opposite at Rio in front of Boskovic is no joke. But the Dutch team seem to have rather ran out of gas after Guidetti left.


  • Great video and podcast from Ciara Michel with Britt Bongaerts.

    Britt Bongaerts is such a sweetheart:heart: She has a very open and interested character, she is even asking Ciara some questions^^

    In the podcast she tells about the following:

    It was difficult for her to play in the youth program in the Netherlands, because she was away from home at a young age, everything in her live was about volleyball and there was a big pressure. This made her considering to quit volleyball, but now she is happy she eventually choose to continue playing volleyball. She loves being a setter, because she has to make the decisions and the plan how the team is going to play. Sometimes it's a bit frustrating, because as a setter she depends a lot on her players around her, but eventueally you have to help eachother out to perform good as a team. According to Bongaerts is good to begin your professional career in Germany. Especially Aachen was a great club, because it feels like family and she would advice every player to start there. She wanted to leave German league after 5 years to develop further as a player, because in Germany there are a lot of young talented players, so the level can be a bit inconsistent. Now in Poland there are a lot more players from an older age, so it's more difficult/ differnt to play against, because they have way more experience. Beginning of the season with LKS Lodz was difficult, because of COVID they had to be in quarantine twice so they couldn't find a good rhythm with the team. Next to that there was high pressure from the club, because of the disappointing results. Last summer she had an offer from LKS Lodz and a team in Italy who would play for relegation. Playing for a top team who plays for the prices and where you have to perform under pressure, was one of the deciding factors to sign with LKS Lodz. Also playing In CL was a big reason, because she loves playing at that level. Playing against the best teams and players in the world only makes you better and she enjoys it much to watch them play. Playing against Maja Ognjenovic was great, because she is one of the best players and she could learn so much from her. Eventually Bongaerts wants to play for a team in Turkey or Italy. She doesn't have one particular team she would like to play for, but of course Vakifbank is high on her list. She realises that would be so hard to accomplish, because everyone would like to play for Vakifbank.


    Here you can find the podcast with Britt Bongaerts and all the other players. BTW big kudos to Chiara Michel, because she is doing a great job:):thumbup:


    https://anchor.fm/cimichel/epi…m-wBritt-Bongaerts-eonlhp

  • This was a nice interview. She had one for voleybol magazine too but it seems they took it down for some reason. Now I can't find the references. She really looks up to Maja aww

  • I missed lonneke playing. Hope she plays next season. 1 step at a time. Maybe start from short league like in asia to slowly build up her confidence and then start from there.

    I'm 99% sure she won't return to playing volleyball?(

    Last friday she was a guest in an interviewand again she said she enjoys live so much without volleyball in it. She barely touched the ball after her last match with Scandicci and didn't feel the need so far to start practice volleyball again. She tends to retire the most, but doesn't want to close the door completely yet. She doesn't want to be the person who says she quits and then eventually returns to volleyball.

    If she decides to return, she won't be playing for both a club and NT, because her body wouldn't handle it.


    She thinks the level of Dutch NT in the future is uncertain, because a lot will depend if the "old" players will quit to play for NT. Next to that, there aren't many prospects who are able to compete at the highest level in the near future. On the other hand she thinks it can help the team, because they will be in the underdog position and doesn't have the pressure anymore to be one of the favourites.

    She really hopes Plak will take her spot as opposite hitter in Dutch NT, because she proved in the past she more than capable to fill in her shoes. But also this is uncertain, because she originally is a outside hitter and it's the question she will return playing volleyball...

    According to Sloëtjes Daalderop is a huge talent and will take over her spot as topscorer for the Dutch NT:)