Jitske Visser

“I have found my destination in life thanks to the Paralympic movement”

“A gold medal at the Paralympics was the only medal that was still missing in our trophy cabinet. We have won so much with the Netherlands wheelchair basketball team. European champion, world champion, bronze in London and Rio. And then and there in Tokyo, we finally won gold. The match against Germany was pivotal. For the third time in a row, we competed against them in the semi-finals at the Paralympics. We had lost during the previous encounters. It seemed to be cursed. But we won this time. The relief was huge and so was our optimism. ‘We already have more than bronze, so we might as well win the finals too.’ I thought the award ceremony was the most wonderful part. Normally, the medal is placed around your neck by an official. Due to COVID-19, we placed the medals around each other’s necks. When I had the medal around my neck and held it, that was so very special. Unreal. For the first two weeks, I hardly took off this medal, and it was actually quite heavy indeed.

Two days after the winning moment of the final, we had a flight back home, together with other Paralympic athletes who still were in Tokyo. At Schiphol airport, we were collected at the airport for a Welcome Home with friends and family. That was organized by the Dutch Lotteries and NOC*NSF. They really did a wonderful job. We were allowed to invite three people. However, I could not choose between my father, mother, two sisters and boyfriend. So I said: ‘If one of you is going to meet me at the airport, then we drive to Rotterdam and we have a party there with each other.’ This one person was my younger sister. She is seven years younger than I am and she always used to sit on my lap. This is more difficult now. She is 1.80 meters tall. It was wonderful to see her again. During the next days, I tried to come back down to earth again a bit in Rotterdam. It did not happen. I was truly living my golden dream.

“I have learned a lot about people”

Tokyo has brought me another highlight. I had put forward my candidature for the Athletes’ Commission of the IPC on behalf of the Netherlands. NOC*NSF had considered whom they could recommend for this. I was selected in the end. ‘You don’t hesitate to give your opinion’, they said. ‘And you know the Paralympic world well.’ That makes sense. I was fifteen years old when I participated in the Paralympics for the first time. The Paralympic movement has had a major impact on my life. I have learned so much there and thanks to this movement, I found my destination in life. It would be wonderful if other Paralympic elite athletes also experienced this. I am dedicated to contribute to it. Additionally, I was chosen as chair by the members of the commission (I had put forward my candidature). It is wonderful that they have showed confidence in me. This role also means that I automatically become a member of the IPC board. This has also been the case for the vice-chair since September 2022. That means two votes for the athlete, which is an amazing step forward. The athletes’ voice has become increasingly important in this respect. A positive development indeed.

We have regular meetings with the IPC Athletes’ Commission. Normally, we meet with the IPC board three times a week for a weekend. Additionally, there are online meetings on a monthly basis. Furthermore, you attend the IOC Athletes’ Commission as chair of the Athletes’ Commission. So it will all be nice and busy. The combination of trainings and competitions is quite heavy, but by planning way ahead, it all goes well. I don’t have any reason to complain. Isn’t it marvelous if you can turn your hobby into a profession? Living the dream!

Which characteristics of elite sport will I take along in the workplace? Well, what I deem important is to have a goal in mind. I have that too with basketball. This goal consists of small sub-goals which you can pursue. And my experience as a team player helps me as well. I have played in various teams in the past thirteen years and I have learned a lot about people. I have also learned that you do not always agree. And that is fine, in fact, something quite nice could result from it indeed. At the same time, you always need to have an open mind for people and listen to them. And you need to have some social skills. I learned this in Germany where I am the only woman in a men’s team. What the difference is between men and women? I am not going to share this because I would have to consider what I should and should not tell!”

Jitske Visser started playing wheelchair basketball when she was ten years old. Five years later, she was selected for the Dutch team and she made her first appearance at the Paralympics in Beijing. With a sixth place then, followed by a bronze medal in London and Rio, the Netherlands won gold in Tokyo, the medal they had always been dreaming of. Mission accomplished. And a new mission has started now. Jitske was chosen as the chair for the Athletes’ Commission of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). She represents the interests of Paralympic athletes all over the world.

“You don’t hesitate to give your opinion, they said”

elite sport and working experience

elite sport and working experience

“You should do what gives you energy”

“What do you see when you observe me?”

The Power Program aims at elite athletes and former elite athletes who have recently quit their elite sport. You learn to (re)discover who you are, what your competences are, and what your ambitions are. We came together once every two weeks in a period of four months. Due to COVID-19, the program was online, but this did not mean it was less fascinating or inspiring. We were given nice and meaningful homework assignments. I had to ask several people how they observed me. It was interesting and fulfilling to learn about this. The entire program stimulated me to reflect. And ultimately, it resulted in the fact that I quit my job. I received the final push from one of my colleagues who worked with me at the out-of-school care facility. He asked if I needed the money. No. ‘Then why are you still working here if you don’t like it?’

During the subsequent period, I thought about what I wanted for a while. I took a few months to consider everything. It is always a good idea to take time and reflect on your current life every now and then. I spoke with a few people, companies, and at a certain moment, NOC*NSF offered me an opportunity to apply for a position at TeamNL Athlete Services. I had an interview and I immediately had a good feeling. I received a warm welcome and I felt appreciated. A position at NOC*NSF is ideal for an elite athlete. They said: ‘Your sport takes priority. If one thing impedes the other, please tell us.’ If I have to train during the day, I can easily rearrange my work schedule around it. I am very flexible. It is possible here. When you are working in a company, no matter how good their intentions may be, this could sometimes result in disappointment. In terms of planning, it can be more difficult to arrange everything as well. My teammates think I am doing well. And in fact, I think so too.

The combination of elite sport and gaining work experience is perfect for me now. I really enjoy working at TeamNL Athlete Services. And being an elite athlete is fantastic. In the end, it is all about the result, which is not all that matters. It is also about the stories you share together. The road to heaven. You enjoy wonderful experiences along the way. For example, I remember a journey to Turkey. We had to hand in our cell phones. For the entire week. We thought it was a joke which it was not. During that week, we actually talked to each other rather than talking to our phones. There are many stories like this.

As athletes, we should be truly grateful to TeamNL@work. You also get an opportunity to develop yourself on a personal level. There are all kinds of group programs open for registration for us, from Speakers to Sport Marketing and Media. The Power Program has given me a lot. Among other things, the insight that you have to do what gives you energy. I find this in my own Korfball College. I teach a clinic eight times a year to children who do not reach the top in sport. They come from all over the country and receive a nice shirt to take home. You can see how much they enjoy the experience. The smile on their faces is so precious. It is great to be able to contribute to society as an elite athlete in this way.”

“As a child, your dream is to be able to do what you enjoy every day. For me, that was practicing sport. However, I deemed it important to obtain a degree before I fully committed myself to elite sport. I completed my education in pedagogics and I started working at an after-school care facility in addition to playing korfball. Since we practice at the sport club in the evenings, it is fantastic to do something on the side during the day. Otherwise, you go crazy. I started at two o’clock in the afternoon, which fitted well in my daily routine. I could sleep in and get rested in the mornings, which is important for an elite athlete. At a certain moment, something started nagging me: Is this really it? Do I truly enjoy it? Two years before, a former teammate had directed my attention to a TeamNL@work group program she had followed: the Power Program. She was very excited about it. I immediately registered with TeamNL@work.

Do I still enjoy it? Barbara Brouwer, TeamNL korfball player wondered. The multiple European and world champion referred to her job in addition to korfball. She participated in a TeamNL@work course to find out what her goals were. It caused her to think carefully and it resulted in a radical decision: she quit her job. In retrospect, it was the right thing to do; but it was not an easy decision to make. All pieces of the puzzle all fall together nicely in her new job. She can perfectly combine her elite sport and working experience, and she feels at ease with herself.

Barbara Brouwer

“Sport comes first and anything else is scheduled around it”

elite sport and working experience

“Being more in control of your own life. Isn’t that what we all want?”

“It is wonderful that you can be part of someone’s life, that you can help someone to become independent”

I enjoy working in addition to training. It gives me the necessary distraction and I contribute to society in this respect. When I was younger, I had less romantic feelings about it. It just happened more or less by coincidence that I started working in the care for the disabled. I completed several internships during my educational program, both with special education and the care for the disabled. I enjoyed it indeed. The freedom you have, the flexible working hours. It is not a nine-to-five job. I considered those characteristics. At that time, it was not my mission in the first place to help people. I have different thoughts about this now. It is wonderful that you can be part of someone’s life, that you can help someone to become independent.

When I came in fourth in Rio, I wanted nothing else but winning a medal. I succeeded. I aimed for gold in Tokyo, together with Annika van der Meer, my rowing partner. We won silver. I am proud of that as well. And the success was noticed. I am invited more and more to be a speaker at schools and sport clubs. Or companies invite me for a motivational talk. I like to share my story. I can inspire others with it. However, I thought that my story was not strong enough yet. This is why I participated in the group program TeamNL@work | Speakers. This program is about yourself: What is your story? What do you want to share? What is interesting? I did not have a clue. I am just living my life. That is what I do. Suddenly, I had to think about this. I found it confronting and uncomfortable. What am I doing here? I wondered. I’d rather have two heavy trainings on one day where I would have to give everything it takes. I thought it was less tiring than this. I felt empty inside.

As an elite athlete, you are used to being physically active. So, you have to get used to an entire day ‘in the classroom’. But you have to be persistent. What I like about the program is that you are together with other elite athletes. You learn a lot from the stories we share. Thanks to the program, it has become more evident for me which story I can share: the story of a little boy who had always been the last to be chosen with gymnastics in the past, and who turned out to be a super athletic, silver medalist in the Tokyo Olympics. It is about overcoming your problems, about pushing your boundaries. I have a congenital limb length discrepancy. I had surgeries eight or nine times when I was a child. I was in bed quite a lot and I could not keep up physically. When I was eighteen years old, I was informed that I would end up in a wheelchair in five years. Now, I am 32 years old and I am still running like the wind, so to speak.

You can accomplish a lot with discipline and commitment. These characteristics apply to me as an elite athlete. And I share these characteristics with the residents at the location where I work. They want to live as independently as possible. Then you must teach them skills which are part of taking care of yourself. It is about cleaning their homes. About preparing meals. About planning their meetings. We do this step by step. And half a year later, it turns out that they are doing all right, even though they did not think so. That they can schedule an appointment with the general practitioner of dentist by themselves when something is the matter. This way, they start to have more control over their lives each day. Isn’t that what we all want?”

“When you are quite good in a sport, you become an elite athlete. Subsequently, your societal career starts. It happened the other way around in my case. I worked and I became an elite athlete. Just by coincidence really. We went rowing on the Bosbaan (a rowing lake) in Amsterdam during a teambuilding activity with wheelchair hockey. I did not move forward at all in the boat, but that was a matter of technique, but it went well inside on the ergometer. That was primarily a matter of pushing your limits, what I enjoy doing. I impressed the coach of the rowing selection. He called me a couple of weeks later and asked whether I wanted to participate in the Dutch indoor rowing championships. It was my first rowing race ever. I became the Dutch champion. I was completely exhausted. Sore muscles, chest pain, you name it. At the same time, I thought it was so cool. I became European champion indoor rowing a couple of weeks later. Then I learned how to do outdoor rowing. That soon went well. We had been qualified for the World Cup, where we came in fourth. Well, you might be able to qualify for the Paralympics, I thought. I had always wanted that.

I was practicing twelve times a week with the rowing selection. I did so in addition to my work. I am a supervisor at a residential location for people with a mental disability. It requires a tight schedule. Since the supervision is present 24/7 at such a location, you have some opportunities with the shifts you work there. If you work two evening-night shifts in a row, then you have nearly completed all your working hours. Those shifts run from four o’clock in the afternoon till nine o’clock the next morning. By planning it this way, I could divide my time well between practicing on the Bosbaan in Amsterdam and working in Goes and surroundings, where I live. I was lucky that my employer always gave me the freedom to plan my schedule myself, so that it suits me well. Of course, in agreement with my colleagues. That goes well. If one does not suffer from the other, then there is no problem indeed.

The story of a little boy who had always been the last to be chosen with gymnastics in the past, and who turned out to be a super athletic, silver medalist in Tokyo – this is the narrative which Paralympics rower Corné de Koning developed during the group program TeamNL@work | Speakers. It helps him to share his story when he is invited by schools, sport clubs or companies. In this respect, discipline and commitment are important elements. This way, he combines elite sport and working experience and he pushes his boundaries.

Corné de Koning

“You can accomplish quite a lot with discipline and commitment”

elite sport and working experience

“It is truly wonderful to do: inspiring children with my own passion, sport”

“When I started the combination, I was looking for something else, some distraction”

I spend eight hours per week as communication officer with Elite sport Gelderland. I already did so during my BMX-career and I still do so. It is a nice combination. Thanks to the variation with a societal career, I have a bit of a distraction from my sport, which is good. On the one hand, it is nice that my colleagues understand that I am still fully committed to my elite sport career. Of course, this requires quite some time and attention.

I started combining elite sport with a ‘normal job’, since I wanted to know what it looked like. But to be honest, when I started a traineeship with NOC*NSF in 2019, I was also looking for something else, for some distraction. I was amidst a tough period, it had all become a bit too much for me. Then, I saw in a newsletter from TeamNL that a traineeship was available with TeamNL Athlete Services. I immediately responded and that is how it all started. At NOC*NSF, I have needed some time indeed to figure out how you combine sport and work. Prior to this, it actually was ‘long live the elite sport’ and then, suddenly, you bear responsibility for something. First and foremost, it was a matter of good planning and maintaining an overview. I need to have a clear picture for myself as to when I have to do what and then I will be all right. In the working period with NOC*NSF, I received support from my traineeship supervisor Marti ten Kate. The traineeship ended after a year and I started at Elite sport Gelderland thanks to some contacts.

I did not have an A-status at that moment, so a traineeship helped in financial terms as well of course, but first and foremost I wanted to continue doing something on the side. I deem that important anyway. This is why I really liked it that I was asked to do something during the TeamNL Olympic Festival in Scheveningen. During the festival, I immersed myself in the city of The Hague to show children, primarily from less profitable neighborhoods, how much fun and how good it is for you to practice sport and to be physically active. I also took my bike and they could ask me anything they wanted. It was truly wonderful to do: inspiring children with my own passion, sport.

I like my current position as an employee in communication. It corresponds well with the study program in Marketing & Communication which I pursued at the Johan Cruyff College. But I don’t know whether I would like to do this fulltime after my elite sport career. At NOC*NSF, I guided athletes with a new status, explained things, answered questions, these kinds of things. I found out that I truly like to assist athletes this way. For instance, in the future I would like to support elite athletes in their mental challenges. I had a rough time myself and it happens quite regularly, it has to be discussed more. It is likely that I have to pursue a study program for that, but I think it is quite interesting indeed. No matter what I will be doing after my sport career, I know that I can trust my focus and perseverance. It has not always been easy in my career. I have had many injuries, but I recovered again and again because I persevered. That is such an asset, both in a societal career and, generally, in life.”

“The transfer to the cycling track feels good so far. I had already been thinking about it for a while and I reached the final decision in summer of 2021. I knew that I would start from scratch again but that’s no problem at all. Of course, the Paris Olympic Games in 2024 are my goal. It is a short notice for someone who just transferred to another sport, but I am going to give everything it takes to make it. And, I am not the first athlete who makes this transfer. Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland and Roy van den Berg also made the transfer from BMX. We don’t see each other on a daily basis, but we are talking about it now and then. Which problems you encounter, the things that are difficult when you make the transfer. It is nice to discuss this together.

It was not so long ago when Merle van Benthem thought the major part of her sport career was over. Merle, 29 years old, born in Hengelo, had been giving everything she had in BMX at a top level, for more than ten years. But it was over after she had failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. However, the end of her BMX-career turned out to be the beginning of a new adventure. At the cycling track. Since July 2021, Merle has formally been entitled to call herself a track cyclist and elite sport is by far her number one priority again. Her parttime position with Elite sport Gelderland continues to be part of her schedule. “I also want to know what it is like to have a ‘normal’ job, what ‘real life’ entails.”

Merle van Benthem

“I wanted to experience life beyond elite sport”