Esther Vergeer and Carl Verheijen agree: the personal development of a high-performance athlete not only includes the sports or performance. Beyond this and far more important, it is about the high-performance athlete who discovers who he is and what type of person he is. A broader perspective.
“I believe that you should coach an athlete to become an unique individual rather than an object”, Verheijen elaborates. “Otherwise, you become a high-performance skater or a high-performance tennis player, whilst an individual includes so much more than that. When you coach an athlete to become a unique individual, they benefit from this in becoming robust individuals in their careers afterwards and, on top of that, they are able to contribute more to society as well. We do not pay enough attention to this asset at present.”
closing word
“The steps TeamNL has taken with TeamNL@work are ‘awesome’!”
When chefs de mission Esther Vergeer and Carl Verheijen retired from their high-performance career, limited assistance was available for the transition to a next career step. TeamNL@work has changed that. TeamNL@work assists (former) high-performance athletes on their way to follow new dreams and pursue new goals after their high-performance career. Vergeer and Verheijen are very pleased about this.
Thus, TeamNL@work is even more important, Verheijen and Vergeer consider. It is the way indeed for athletes to explore the opportunities of a career whilst they are still active in their high-performance career. And, by doing so, with the assistance of TeamNL@work.
Vergeer: “Quite few high-performance athletes have the privilege to practice sports while they are financially independent. This is why I support that they already consider their next steps during their high-performance career. If you don’t know what is awaiting you after your high-performance career, this notion may create many obstacles for you.”
They say that the assistance TeamNL provides to today’s athletes during their transition is in sharp contrast with the assistance Verheijen and Vergeer received at that time. “When I retired in 2010, the opportunities were not as extensive as compared to today”, Verheijen looks back. “We were far more on our own.”
Vergeer refers to the steps that TeamNL has taken with TeamNL@work as “awesome”. In her view, the Dutch sports federation (NOC*NSF) has embraced its responsibility in this respect. “It is wonderful that we enable athletes to practice sports fulltime in a great environment, but how can we enable that they will return something to the society in a while and that they find themselves a nice place in a working environment?”
Vergeer mentions the opportunities offered by TeamNL@work: ranging from career counseling to coaching on the job. And ranging from improving specific competences to the network and the so called TeamNL@work bedrijvenpool. “The combination of studies or work and high-performance sports is very important. If you arrange this well, it will assist you enormously, also in your athletic performances. I am convinced of that.”
Verheijen agrees. In his view, it is also a good idea to be able to do something apart from your studies as a high-performance athlete, for instance in the off-season of competitions. “This also requires something from the coaches and trainers. But if an athlete feels the need to focus on something else outside the competitions, then you will have better, more balanced and stronger individuals in return. So, it benefits their high-performance sports as well.”
The chefs de mission consider that TeamNL@work is also a good way for athletes to gain insight into the competences which they already gained during their sports, of which they may not be aware yet. “As a high-performance athlete, you often do not realize that you have many unique selling points, like cooperating, setting targets, and coping with success and disappointments”, Vergeer elaborates.
Vergeer stresses that TeamNL@work should feel as an asset first and foremost, and not as an extra burden. For the high-performance athletes in the winter sports, exploring their career after the high-performance sports career is not their priority now. Then one thing counts: starting the Winter Games with the best preparation possible. “But afterwards, of course we will draw their attention to the support available to them once again.”
“If you don’t know what is awaiting you after your high-performance career, this notion may create many obstacles for you”
“As a high-performance athlete, you often do not realize that you have many unique selling points”
“The steps TeamNL has taken with TeamNL@work are ‘awesome’!”
closing word
When chefs de mission Esther Vergeer and Carl Verheijen retired from their high-performance career, limited assistance was available for the transition to a next career step. TeamNL@work has changed that. TeamNL@work assists (former) high-performance athletes on their way to follow new dreams and pursue new goals after their high-performance career. Vergeer and Verheijen are very pleased about this.
Esther Vergeer and Carl Verheijen agree: the personal development of a high-performance athlete not only includes the sports or performance. Beyond this and far more important, it is about the high-performance athlete who discovers who he is and what type of person he is. A broader perspective.
“I believe that you should coach an athlete to become an unique individual rather than an object”, Verheijen elaborates. “Otherwise, you become a high-performance skater or a high-performance tennis player, whilst an individual includes so much more than that. When you coach an athlete to become a unique individual, they benefit from this in becoming robust individuals in their careers afterwards and, on top of that, they are able to contribute more to society as well. We do not pay enough attention to this asset at present.”
“If you don’t know what is awaiting you after your high-performance career, this notion may create many obstacles for you”
Thus, TeamNL@work is even more important, Verheijen and Vergeer consider. It is the way indeed for athletes to explore the opportunities of a career whilst they are still active in their high-performance career. And, by doing so, with the assistance of TeamNL@work.
Vergeer: “Quite few high-performance athletes have the privilege to practice sports while they are financially independent. This is why I support that they already consider their next steps during their high-performance career. If you don’t know what is awaiting you after your high-performance career, this notion may create many obstacles for you.”
They say that the assistance TeamNL provides to today’s athletes during their transition is in sharp contrast with the assistance Verheijen and Vergeer received at that time. “When I retired in 2010, the opportunities were not as extensive as compared to today”, Verheijen looks back. “We were far more on our own.”
Vergeer refers to the steps that TeamNL has taken with TeamNL@work as “awesome”. In her view, the Dutch sports federation (NOC*NSF) has embraced its responsibility in this respect. “It is wonderful that we enable athletes to practice sports fulltime in a great environment, but how can we enable that they will return something to the society in a while and that they find themselves a nice place in a working environment?”
Vergeer mentions the opportunities offered by TeamNL@work: ranging from career counseling to coaching on the job. And ranging from improving specific competences to the network and the so called TeamNL@work bedrijvenpool. “The combination of studies or work and high-performance sports is very important. If you arrange this well, it will assist you enormously, also in your athletic performances. I am convinced of that.”
Verheijen agrees. In his view, it is also a good idea to be able to do something apart from your studies as a high-performance athlete, for instance in the off-season of competitions. “This also requires something from the coaches and trainers. But if an athlete feels the need to focus on something else outside the competitions, then you will have better, more balanced and stronger individuals in return. So, it benefits their high-performance sports as well.”
The chefs de mission consider that TeamNL@work is also a good way for athletes to gain insight into the competences which they already gained during their sports, of which they may not be aware yet. “As a high-performance athlete, you often do not realize that you have many unique selling points, like cooperating, setting targets, and coping with success and disappointments”, Vergeer elaborates.
Vergeer stresses that TeamNL@work should feel as an asset first and foremost, and not as an extra burden. For the high-performance athletes in the winter sports, exploring their career after the high-performance sports career is not their priority now. Then one thing counts: starting the Winter Games with the best preparation possible. “But afterwards, of course we will draw their attention to the support available to them once again.”
“As a high-performance athlete, you often do not realize that you have many unique selling points”