NOS Sports•today, 1:02 PM
Next year America will start a new volleyball competition that will make a big splash in the sport. “A whole shift is coming,” thinks Dutch international Laura Dijkema, who announced yesterday that she would be moving to League One Volleyball after this season.
The competition in America, where volleyball is only played at college level, is completely different from the competitions in European countries. The season is shorter and the players are paid well by the league, in which American sports icons such as skier Lindsey Vonn, tennis icon Billie Jean King and basketball players Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum have invested.
Dijkema notices that there is a lot of interest among players in the competition in her environment. The 34-year-old playmaker, who has played in the strong Italian league in recent years, thinks that many European top teams will lose their top players. “But many may still wait for the first season to see how it will turn out. But I’m going for it.”
I will soon be assigned somewhere, I don’t know yet what I signed up for.
Dijkema is not worried about the level. “Almost the entire American national team will play in America after the upcoming Olympic Games. They are the reigning Olympic champions, truly world top. So that already provides a good basic level.”
More peace
Dijkema is “unwise” about the format of the American competition. And that’s not surprising. Because while the volleyball calendar in Europe is overcrowded, the players in America get more rest. Preparations for the competition start in November and the competition itself runs from January to mid-April.
In Europe, internationals, especially those at top clubs, have club obligations until May and a week or two weeks later the first match of the national team is scheduled. And in September, just after the last tournament with the national teams, the clubs start attracting players again, because the competitions start again in October.
“Then there will be little vacation left,” says Herman Meppelink, technical director of the Dutch volleyball association (Nevobo). The international association (FIVB) has reserved blocks for the season with the national teams and the club season, in which rest weeks are also guaranteed.
“But it would be nice if everyone formally adhered to this. Because that is the big problem now. It is a constant battle between the interests of the national teams and the interests of the clubs.”
However, a competition structure such as that of League One Volleyball is far from European reality. Meppelink: “America is a commercial country, of course. So it’s nice that there are competitions with shorter seasons and where you still earn a lot. That is certainly very interesting for internationals, but that is not possible in Europe.”
“Volleyball players earn their salary in the winter, at their clubs. They cannot survive on the income from the national team.”
The club salaries are already not a big deal, so if the season is also shortened, there will be little left, Meppelink thinks. “The clubs have to offer the sponsors some matches. And of course we give the players a decent living.”
This is all arranged differently in America, says Dijkema. “I’m paid by the league, not by a club. And the salary is good, otherwise I wouldn’t go there.” Last year’s first investment round already raised $35 million.
Completely different design
Actually, everything is completely different in the American volleyball league. Dijkema does not yet know which club she will play for. “There are six teams and they all want to have an equal level in terms of level. So I will soon be assigned somewhere, I don’t know yet what I signed for. But they want the competition to be immediately attractive to the public, that is why they want teams that to be evenly matched.”
For Dijkema herself, the American adventure will probably also be her last volleyball adventure. “That could well be the case, yes. Never say never, of course, but I have signed for two years. Then I will be 36 and I don’t want to still be on the field as an old grandmother.”
