Volleyball
Volleyball legends promote EuroVolley Men - Olympic champion Bas van de Goor
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Article Thu, Jan 17 2019
Luxembourg, January 17, 2019. Bas van de Goor was one of three Olympic champions, together with his former coach Joop Alberda and Serbia’s Djula Mester, to attend the Drawing of Lots for EuroVolley 2019 Men held on Wednesday at the iconic Atomium in Brussels. Van de Goor will be the Tournament Director in the Netherlands and play a leading role in the promotion of the event across the country.
This is something that van de Goor has already become familiar with – after taking that same responsibility at the stops of the FIVB World Tour held in The Hague in 2014 and 2015 as well as earlier this month, and at the Beach Volleyball World Championships held across four Dutch cities in 2015.
“I like playing this role very much,” van de Goor said. “You are some kind of a guest but at the same time you are the person that sponsors, media and players relate and talk to. Sometimes, I take sponsors on a tour of the venue, explain to people how much of an effort it takes to organise an event of such magnitude and liaise with fans and media alike as well.”
Bas van de Goor portrayed at the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships held in the Netherlands.
Van de Goor is the chair of the foundation that bears his own name and that he helped establish after the doctors diagnosed him with diabetes. “The foundation has always been the official charity partner of the major events I have attended in my capacity of Tournament Director and it will be the same with EuroVolley. We work very hard to help people with diabetes through sport and other activities, and do so especially with and for the younger ones,” van de Goor said.
The CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men is the next ‘big thing’ due to take place on Dutch soil, with matches played in three cities – Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Apeldoorn. “I think we have a good team who did well at last year’s World Championship. It is the right moment to make another step forward in their development with the help of a good coach. To coach the Dutch national team should be an incentive for many candidates, with a European Championship on home soil and the perspective of fighting for a spot at the Tokyo Olympics,” van de Goor said. The ‘Lange Mannen’ are still waiting for the name of their next head coach after Gido Vermeulen stepped down at the end of 2018.
“We have a number of good players who compete in some of the strongest national leagues in the world, including some playing in Italy. The next coach should work with these players to create a strong group and with the support of the home audience, I think the team could rise to the occasion and achieve a good result, just like we did ourselves back in 1996. We hosted the World League Finals in Rotterdam and beat Italy for the first time in a major event. This is when we realised that we could play at the same level as Italy and this proved key to our following success at the Olympics that same year,” van de Goor recalls.
1996 Olympic champion Bas van de Goor has been the Tournament Director at a number of major events held in the Netherlands and will be playing the very same role at EuroVolley 2019 Men as well.
“There are many factors that contribute to the success of a team, and back in our ‘golden era’, I think the key was that all parties involved – the players, the coaching staff, the Federation – were working closely together for the achievement of the same goal. Our coach at the time, Joop Alberda, was very good at creating the group and motivating us and we knew that the Federation, starting with President Paul Schaling, were behind us and supported us fully,” Bas continues. “However, I would never be able to coach a team myself, as you need someone who is fully committed and focussed on that, and this person needs the full support of a staff with good skills at analysing, studying and understanding the game.”
Despite his commitment towards EuroVolley 2019 Men and the close friendship that he still cultivates with some of his former friends and opponents, such as Italian legends Marco Bracci, Fabio Vullo and Andrea Giani, there is not only Volleyball in the life of Bas. “If you enter my home, you will not find much of a reference to my Volleyball career. There is one exception though: I have put my Olympic gold medal from Atlanta 1996 into a frame and it has found its place on top of the fireplace. I never wanted to exhibit my trophies but this one is truly special and I think it deserves to have its own place there.” Let’s wait for September and see how far the ‘Lange Mannen’ can go as Bas starts working to make EuroVolley 2019 yet another successful event held on Dutch soil.
This is something that van de Goor has already become familiar with – after taking that same responsibility at the stops of the FIVB World Tour held in The Hague in 2014 and 2015 as well as earlier this month, and at the Beach Volleyball World Championships held across four Dutch cities in 2015.
“I like playing this role very much,” van de Goor said. “You are some kind of a guest but at the same time you are the person that sponsors, media and players relate and talk to. Sometimes, I take sponsors on a tour of the venue, explain to people how much of an effort it takes to organise an event of such magnitude and liaise with fans and media alike as well.”
Bas van de Goor portrayed at the 2015 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships held in the Netherlands.
Van de Goor is the chair of the foundation that bears his own name and that he helped establish after the doctors diagnosed him with diabetes. “The foundation has always been the official charity partner of the major events I have attended in my capacity of Tournament Director and it will be the same with EuroVolley. We work very hard to help people with diabetes through sport and other activities, and do so especially with and for the younger ones,” van de Goor said.
The CEV EuroVolley 2019 Men is the next ‘big thing’ due to take place on Dutch soil, with matches played in three cities – Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Apeldoorn. “I think we have a good team who did well at last year’s World Championship. It is the right moment to make another step forward in their development with the help of a good coach. To coach the Dutch national team should be an incentive for many candidates, with a European Championship on home soil and the perspective of fighting for a spot at the Tokyo Olympics,” van de Goor said. The ‘Lange Mannen’ are still waiting for the name of their next head coach after Gido Vermeulen stepped down at the end of 2018.
“We have a number of good players who compete in some of the strongest national leagues in the world, including some playing in Italy. The next coach should work with these players to create a strong group and with the support of the home audience, I think the team could rise to the occasion and achieve a good result, just like we did ourselves back in 1996. We hosted the World League Finals in Rotterdam and beat Italy for the first time in a major event. This is when we realised that we could play at the same level as Italy and this proved key to our following success at the Olympics that same year,” van de Goor recalls.
1996 Olympic champion Bas van de Goor has been the Tournament Director at a number of major events held in the Netherlands and will be playing the very same role at EuroVolley 2019 Men as well.
“There are many factors that contribute to the success of a team, and back in our ‘golden era’, I think the key was that all parties involved – the players, the coaching staff, the Federation – were working closely together for the achievement of the same goal. Our coach at the time, Joop Alberda, was very good at creating the group and motivating us and we knew that the Federation, starting with President Paul Schaling, were behind us and supported us fully,” Bas continues. “However, I would never be able to coach a team myself, as you need someone who is fully committed and focussed on that, and this person needs the full support of a staff with good skills at analysing, studying and understanding the game.”
Despite his commitment towards EuroVolley 2019 Men and the close friendship that he still cultivates with some of his former friends and opponents, such as Italian legends Marco Bracci, Fabio Vullo and Andrea Giani, there is not only Volleyball in the life of Bas. “If you enter my home, you will not find much of a reference to my Volleyball career. There is one exception though: I have put my Olympic gold medal from Atlanta 1996 into a frame and it has found its place on top of the fireplace. I never wanted to exhibit my trophies but this one is truly special and I think it deserves to have its own place there.” Let’s wait for September and see how far the ‘Lange Mannen’ can go as Bas starts working to make EuroVolley 2019 yet another successful event held on Dutch soil.