Floortje Meijners -inglese

“I am very precise, full of enthusiasm and extremely positive”. With these very words Floortje Meijners describes herself during our interview. Usually, expressing one’ s own emotions and thoughts is never easy, in particular in a foreign language. However, during the thirty minute talk in English with Flo, I am literally captured by her energy and being likeable. “Well, at least that’s ,what my friends would say about me. And who am I to disagree?” she says laughing. What strikes me the most about this young athlete is her determination and her commitment to all her projects. “I live in the present and usually I don’t make too many plans for the future. I believe that the most important thing is doing well now…then, come what may”. A philosophy that has allowed this player to leave already her mark on this season: with 16 aces in 9 matches, she is ranked first for the number of winning services: a remarkable plunder if one thinks that the Italian female volley championship has just turned the corner. “My strongest point is my service, but as it is a risky shot, I think I have to plug away at it. There are many things that I need to improve, especially my catching and defense. I am sure I can grow up a lot during this season as the level here in Italy is very high. Unluckily, this was not possible in the Dutch league”. Her strong will to improve and to measure herself with stronger players drove Floortje to Yamamay Busto Arsizio volley club. For the Italian team was love at first sight with the Dutch player, and for this reason, Yamamay’s managers waited patiently for three years in order to recruit Flo. Three years. So long did Busto’s courtship last towards the athlete from Oldenzaal. “It took me three years to take this decision. Actually, I had the chance to come to Italy some years ago, but when Yamamay contacted me the first time, I felt I was not ready for this step. It is clear that refusing an offer from Italy was not easy for me, as I knew that playing in the Italian league would have allowed me to improve a lot; however, I believe that one should first feel ready to take this decision. At that time I was not over with my studies yet and I didn’t want to leave them unfinished. Moreover, going to Italy would have meant leaving my family. In sum, it was not the right moment”. Then, a visit at the Pala Yamamay changed everything: “For one week the club hosted me and that persuaded me. In that occasion, in fact, something sparkled in my mind and I had a positive sensation about this club”. Furthermore, the town responded to all the requirements Floortje demanded from her future home: “When I had to decide in which club I was going to play, I took into consideration several factors such as the chance to study close to the place where I was playing and the proximity to a big city like Milan. Busto Arsizio simply had them all”. Before wearing the red t-shirt of Yamamay Busto Arsizio, Floortje had played only in the Netherlands. Her career, in fact, was born and developed in the team of Arke Pollux, a club that saw the player’s first step and final consecration. “I started playing when I was nine years old for Arke Pollux in Oldenzaal where I lived. At the beginning I was training only once a week, but then it became something serious. With this club I played the national championship and when I was only fourteen I was selected for the Juniors national team. Actually, I was very lucky to start my career in a club as Arke Pollux, as it had also a first team: indeed, this pushed me to give my best every day and gave me the chance to confront myself with professional players since the very beginning. My debut with the fist team was in 2002, when I was fifteen. Three years later I was selected for the Senior nation team and I also changed club. At that time, I was living with my parents in Oldenzaal, a city in the East of the Netherlands, but then in 2005, I finally moved to Amsterdam to take part to the project of Amstelveen Martinus. In short, before this season , my career developed around two clubs”. Later, in 2007, the victory at the Gran Prix in Ningbo (China) crowned Flortje’s rise. “Being part of the national group was an important moment in my career. Indeed, I was happy to represent my nation in front of the world, but I have to say that playing for my national team was not a priority for me". That is the reason why I am not part of the selection right now: it’s not a priority for me. It can sound weird, but it’s a thought that I matured little by little during my career: what means the most to me is feeling good and being an important element for my team". The following year, in fact, the name of the outside hitter of Amstelveen did not appear in the list of the official players of the Netherlands national selection. Refusing to join the national selection may look an awkward decision by a professional volley player, but in Floortje’ s case it is in line with her principals and prerogatives. The Dutch player, in fact, refused several time to go to Italy in order to finish her studies. “Studying is an essential factor in my professional career: when things in volley do not turn in the way I’d like, I love focusing in something else. My studies give me this outlet. Passing an exam, moreover, gives me great motivation outside and, in particular, inside the court. I feel I found the perfect combination between volley and studying”. As a result, the proximity of Busto Arsizio to the University of Castellanza was one of the key factors that brought Flo to choose Yamamay among the other Italian clubs that contacted her. “Studying and playing volley is normal for me. I have always being doing that. Now, I am attending the LIUC at Castellanza; I don’t attend the standard program though as I wouldn’t be able to follow all the required courses due to my profession. Indeed, studying and playing is though and draining. I love it though, and that is the key to manage it. Moreover, attending the courses allows me to meet people who don’t belong to the volley world; to meet people with a different life style; people who I love to talk to. In short, university is a perfect way to cut a bit with volleyball and to recharge myself after a match or trainings”. Such a great devotion both to playing and studying may come from Floortje’s past interests. In fact, before committing entirely to volley, little Flo played the saxophone and did ballet. “At the beginning, I played volley, I attended saxophone classes and I did ballet: I did them all. One day, though, my parents told me that I had to take a decision. Thus, although I liked dancing, I decided I would play volley: volleyball, in fact, was the sport I loved the most. It as a though decision to take, but ultimately I have no regrets at all”. In fact, volleyball has always had a special place in Floortje’ s heart. “Both my parents were volleyball players and in my town volley is the most popular sport. I started playing in a club when I was nine years old, as in the Netherlands this is the required age. Actually, my friends and I tried to join a club before nine, but we were always told “no” as we were too young. So, we used to play everywhere we could, included the street”. When she finally reached the right age, Floortje gave it all she got, even though not everything went so smooth. “When I started playing, obviously I didn’t know all the rules. Once, during a match, I attacked directly on the serve of the opponents: when the ball passed on my head, I jumped, spiked and scored a point. At least I thought I had scored it. All my teammates were staring at me and I didn’t know why. So I kept asking: “Did I do something wrong?”. The Dutch spiker laughs at the though of that first match: indeed, things have changed a lot since that day! Thanks to her experiences in both the two clubs she played, Floortje has grown up and become the athlete that drew her team spike after spike: “there has been many factors that influenced my career and I wouldn’t be able to say which one had the most relevant part. When I played for the senior and junior national selections, for instance, I learned a lot both from a human and professional point of view. Likewise, playing for such a team as the Amstelveen Martinus allowed me to play at top levels and to gain a place in the national team. Moreover, as I told before, also my studies have a central role in my career. Last but not least, I had to thank my parents who has always given me their support and who never pushed me to do something I didn’t want to do. Thus, I have been living my career in a relaxing and familiar atmosphere. This helped me a lot”. Without any doubt, being part of her national team played an important role in forging Floortje mentally: “During this period I learned a lot both technically and mentally. In fact, my coach Selinger cared a lot about technical elements and this helped me to improve day after day”. This very same attention on technique belongs also to coach Parisi, the actual coach of Flo at Yamamay Busto Arsizio. “I like the way we are training: like Selinger, in fact, also Parisi focuses on the individual technique and so I can work hard on my weak points. Sincerely, it looks like going back at your beginning when you have still to learn everything, but I want to take advantage of this to improve”. But how does this player live her first year abroad? “I came to Italy especially to play volley in one of the best European leagues. Now that I’m here, I can tell that I love Italy life style and people. As everyone else, moreover, I love Italian food. Not to mention the shopping: I go often to Milan. I am also studying Italian at my university: so far I learned the basic things, but now we are studying also the past tenses and I feel I am improving. Actually, I’m impressed with my skills in understanding Italian, also during our trainings. When I left the Netherlands, my worst fear was not the language though. I was more afraid of missing my friends: however, here in Italy, I have met so many new and interesting people that the departure was not so bad at the end. I know that all my friends are still there waiting for me and often they come to pay me a visit”. There is no doubt: Floortje always thinks positive. Given all this enthusiasm towards volleyball, Italy and life, we are sure that the flight of the Dutch “butterfly” in the Italian league is only at its early stage.


Questo articolo è pubblicato sul numero di febbraio 2011 di Pallavoliamo www.pallavoliamo.it

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