Arnhem, Netherlands, April 7, 2017. The relationship between Germany and the Netherlands is always an interesting one. Especially in sports, where the duels have a long tradition, full of emotions and remarkable results. Bart-Jan van der Mark is a special part of this long story. He is a former national Dutch Volleyball player and now he is attending the 2017 CEV U18 Volleyball European Championship – Women. Curiously not to support the players from The Netherlands, but rather as the German assistant coach and scout. 

You can follow the Championship also on Facebook and Twitter, with the official hashtag to be used for all of your posts and tweets being #EuroVolleyU18W!

The 31-year-old former middle blocker started to play Volleyball at the age of 11, when a friend asked him to come to the training of Sliedrecht Sport: “I said yes and quickly fell in love with the sport. I worked on myself, went to the Dutch talent team and had the chance to play in the first and second division until I got my first professional contract at Omni World in Almere,” he recounts.

It didn’t take a long time until the man standing at 207 cm won his first championships: “I switched to Piet Zoomers Dynamo in Apeldoorn and we won the Dutch championship, cup and super cup to get the right to participate in the CEV Champions League. It was a great time,” he adds. His talent has not been kept secret from the Dutch youth coaches and led him through the youth teams with several participations at the European Championships, where he won a silver medal, World Championships and finally he made it to the men’s senior national team.

“I played 48 games as a national player, but my particular focus was already on becoming a coach. I even led some training sessions during my time as a professional player and taught the Dutch talent team in Papendal in the position of an assistant coach,” van der Mark says.

But how and why did he change sides and became a member of the German National team in Arnhem? The answer is simple: “In 2014, I went to the 8-Nations Tournament in Schaffhausen with the Dutch youth team and got an offer to come to Germany, where I should work for the talent team of SCHWERINER SC. I didn’t need any time and said immediately yes!’’

As well as in the Netherlands, his talent, passion and effort was briskly recognised by the Germans. U18 youth coach Jens Tietböhl took him with the girls: “He was an excellent player and is now a coach who shows his players how they can handle stress situations on the field. He has a confidential and loving way in giving his knowledge to the players as well as a huge Volleyball know how. His creative ideas to educate the girls are a strong benefit for the whole coaching team.’’

“I am glad that I’m working as an assistant coach and scout of the team now. It feels great to work with the girls and Jens.’’ Germany reaped the first fruits of their hard work at the European Championship, although not everything went according to plan: “We had some ups and downs in the preliminary round, but it was our goal to qualify for the World Championship in Argentina and we are one victory away from making the last step,” said the Dutchman who even sings along the German national anthem before a game to leave no doubt that he has become another example of the special relationship between Germany and his home country, the Netherlands.

Semi-final schedule

The semis 1-4 will be held on Saturday with Italy versus Serbia (15:45 CEST) and a Belarusian team that will play against Russia later in the evening at 18:15 CEST, while the semis 5-8 will see Germany facing Poland (15:30 CEST) and hosts Netherlands taking on Slovenia at 18:00 CEST. All matches will be streamed live and for free on LAOLA1.TV as well as on Facebook @CEVEuroVolley.