Starting next season, major league clubs can receive professional coaching to help their players combine their top sports careers with their studies or work. The goal is to give this guidance a permanent place within the top sports policy of the clubs. ‘Quite a lot is already happening in this area at many clubs, but it is important that a professionalization effort is made,’ says Joppe Grasveld of Athletes.Work, which is guiding the clubs in this regard.
The project, which is subsidized by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, is part of the program ‘Strengthening top team sports competitions and top clubs 2032’. The KNHB applied for this subsidy to support the further professionalization of the Tulip premier league. In that framework, several pilots have been set up, of which this is one.
‘Our goal is for clubs to structurally embed player coaching in their top sports policy. It shouldn’t be a one-time initiative where the focus wanes after a year or depends on one proactive volunteer picking up the gauntlet,’ said Grasveld, founder of Athletes.Work. The company specializes in assisting elite athletes in their dual development.
Lars Balk and Jonas de Geus temporarily stepped down from the Dutch national team after the Paris Olympics, in part to focus on their social careers. Photo: Willem Vernes
One said: I don’t know which study to choose. Another had no idea what kind of work would suit them. Joppe Grasveld, founder of Athletes.Work
Seven premier league clubs – including Amsterdam, Kampong, Oranje Rood, Hurley, HDM and Pinoké – already participated in the pilot phase this season. In it, individual players received guidance in their dual development, with the goal of discovering what is needed within the clubs to structurally shape this theme. Research among these clubs showed that 32 percent of the players did not need guidance, 30 percent were unsure and 38 percent would like support. Ultimately, 24 players from the participating clubs were offered guidance in their dual development by Athletes.Work.
Grasveld: “We started talking to them about their personal challenges. One said: I don’t know which study to choose. Another had no idea what kind of work would suit that person. Someone else said: I like my studies, but I can’t combine them with field hockey. And there was also someone who said: I would like to do business, but I have no idea how to get a business plan off the ground. We coached all those players. In the meantime they have found a job, for example, or chosen a study that suits them and can also be combined with their top hockey commitments.’
In addition to the individual coaching, Athletes.Work also mapped out the bottlenecks players encounter when combining top sport with study or work. The insights are currently being shared with all major league clubs. A new phase of the project will start, in which every club in the Tulip big league will get the opportunity to participate and, under guidance, structurally embed dual development in their own top sports policy.
International Xan de Waard temporarily stepped down from the Dutch national team after the Paris Olympics, in part to focus on her social career. Photo: Bart Scheulderman
What can clubs do?
One of the main focal points for clubs is communication, Grasveld emphasizes. ‘Players ultimately have the responsibility themselves to work on their dual development, but as a club you have to encourage that. That doesn’t have to be complicated or take a lot of time. For example, once or twice a year you can name opportunities within the club network, such as sponsors who are open to new talent. Or appoint a permanent contact person who occasionally talks with players about their social ambitions and where the club might be able to support them.’
‘Some players are fully committed to their field hockey career and think: my social career will come later. While they do not always realize what kind of network and opportunities there are at the club,’ he continues. ‘If a player says: I want to develop in a certain direction, sometimes one phone call to a sponsor is enough. But that requires someone to help get that conversation going and make them understand which sponsor that call should be to and how to ask the question.’
The way clubs organize training and facilities also plays an important role, says Grasveld. ‘If all training sessions are scheduled in the middle of the day, it is more difficult to study or work in addition to that than if it takes place at the edges of the days. The same goes for other fixed parts of the top sports program. Does the entire team necessarily have to go to the gym as a collective on Monday afternoon at one o’clock for their individual training? Or is it also okay if someone does it at seven in the evening so they can work during the day?’
‘And do you schedule last-minute video analysis with the message: arrange it with your studies? Or do you think twice about which time is best suited with an eye to each person’s situation? These are two completely different approaches that make the difference between having or not having room for dual development. In other words, there is a crucial role for the technical staff and the board.’
Amsterdam has been working on its own initiative with Athletes.WorkFoto: Willem Vernes
Dual development must become a structural part of Dutch top field hockey Joppe Grasveld, founder of Athletes.Work
Grasveld emphasizes that dual development is broader than choosing a study or finding work. ‘Dual development is more than that. It’s about fundamental questions like: who am I, what do I want, what can I do?
Outside the pilot, there are already several premier league clubs that actively recognize the importance of dual development. Amsterdam, for example, has been working with Athletes.Work on its own initiative for some time. Rotterdam has a similar construction with Topsportnetwerk. Kampong works together with Traiectum. Oranje-Rood has a dual career coach and HDM has a dual career committee.
Grasveld is pleased that the subject is on the agenda at more and more clubs. ‘Dual development not only offers players a financial perspective, but also helps them mentally. Apart from the fact that it is very healthy to sometimes be busy with something other than field hockey, almost every player asks himself sooner or later: what comes after my field hockey career? It would be a shame if this causes them to quit early or affects their performance. That is why dual development must become a structural part of Dutch top field hockey.’
by Hockey.nl
