Professional Vs. Amateur
Danish volleyball is in an interesting period at the moment. I don’t claim to know the history of the league very well, but from what I understand, it wasn’t until around five years ago that the first “foreign professional” made his debut. Since then, the league has seen several more foreign players, paid and unpaid, arrive to play in Denmark every year. Certainly, the league cannot be called a professional league, semi-professional would probably not even be accurate; but, one could easily make the argument that the first steps have been taken in that direction. Whether or not it has been a positive development is debatable and I would like to use this space to talk about professionalism vs. amateurism in Danish volleyball.
People have often asked me why I decided to come to Denmark to play volleyball. Usually, the person asks in a way that suggests that anyone who would pick Denmark to play volleyball must be crazy, but I see it in a different way. I think Denmark is a wonderful place for a foreigner to play volleyball. Think about it, everyone speaks English well, TV and movies are generally in English, the society is stable and free, you don’t have to worry about whether you are going to get paid at the end of the month, etc… Okay, the weather blows, but you can’t have it all. And maybe as a foreigner you can make some more money in another country, but how much is that money worth to you? I could also make a bunch of money playing volleyball in Iran, but is that something I’m interested in? The level of play may also be lower than average compared to Europe but so is the level in Division 2 Germany, yet there are lots of foreigners there. Anyways, the point is that Denmark is actually one of the better destinations in Europe to play volleyball, especially for the first or second year foreign player. There will always be a surplus of volleyball players due to the lack of professional leagues in the US and Canada, and as far as I can tell, foreign players in Denmark are here to stay.
Being a so-called professional volleyball player is not exactly all it is cracked up to be. If anyone is interested in some of the many challenges that professional teams and players face, I suggest checking out Mads Olesen’s series of articles from Danskbasket.dk. The link is here: http://www.danskbasket.dk/nyhed.asp?id=922. The series is about basketball in foreign countries but a lot of what he says is applicable to volleyball and being a foreigner in Denmark. There are also some really good ideas for clubs out there looking to make some extra cash. Anyways, life as a professional can be great, playing volleyball for a living is something that I always wanted to do. However, there are definitely challenges. And what I think most people fail to realize is that the players, especially the ones here in Denmark, are doing it mostly out of love for the game. We are relied on to perform every match, we are expected to be there at every practice/meeting/work opportunity, etc… In some ways we become the property of the club. It isn’t a particularly glamorous life all the time.
What are the benefits then? Well, you get to play volleyball for a living. You get money in return for playing a sport. Whether it is earned or not, the foreigners get a lot of credit and attention in the newspapers and from the fans. And of course, whenever I fill out anything that asks my occupation I get to write “Athlete” in the blank space provided. We also get to live in a foreign country and learn a new culture, meet new people and learn new things. I think generally, my time here in Denmark has helped me learn new things about life, which has been just as significant as playing volleyball. It can definitely be rewarding.
These are just a few personal thoughts about my experience here in Denmark as a volleyball player. I hope they don’t come off as whining or feeling sorry for myself because that isn’t the intention. I just think that people should realize that there is more than just playing matches and hanging out involved in being a professional.
In the next post I’ll give my thoughts on the league and where it is headed. What advantages come with more foreign players and what problems could there be?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Hove,
I agree that Denmark is not a bad place to play with the things that you mentioned (language, TV, knowing you will get paid etc). I will also add that if you head to other countries you may/probably have alot of older players on your team that don't really give a shit about you except that you play well in the games...so it can be a little boring outside the court if you have no social life with the team and have trouble communicating with them. On the other hand those countries are also more used to having foreign players and therefore there is no expectation that solely because you are a foreigner you will also be the best player on the team. They understand much better the 'business' side of things, which can also be bad...if you are playing poorly. There is no such thing as a guaranteed contract no matter what you have on paper, of course some leagues are better than others at paying on time and the right amount...
Looking forward to the next post,
Chad
I believe that Denmark is a really good league to start out in as a foreigner. This is my first year overseas and so far i am glad that I chose denmark as my destination. My feeling is that because the league isn't super formal or fully professional (or whatever you call it)and the quality of play isn't uniform from the top to the bottom of the league, it sort of takes some of the pressure off of the players to perform. Maybe thats just me, but I find it hard to feel pressure when i'm playing in a match without linesmen, sketchy reffing, 12 ppl in the crowd, against a team that I know we will beat no matter what. I am in no way critizing the league here. I am glad that we get thrown into these types of situations everyonce in a while because it allows me to get used everything that goes along with being a foreigner in a new league. I'm still learning to deal with the reffing here. I have found that there are just certain calls that referees here like to make on a consistant basis even if its the wrong call. Anyways i'm starting to ramble on here so...i fold!
I know what you mean about certain calls, and I hae had trouble with that as well. I personally think the setters get punished for making athletic/exciting/aggressive plays, but that is a discussion for another time. What you have to remember is that in reality those calls aren't really "wrong". I know that I sound like a sociologist here but for Danish referees those calls are exactly "right". And if you grew up here with them as your basis for comparison you wouldn't think the calls were wrong. The problem really is that in Canada and the US the refs make different calls in certain situations. It's hard to take a step back and realize this as a foreign player but the sooner you accept it the better...
Hove,
I agree, the Danish referees believe they are making the 'right' call because they blow the same calls over and over again (ie. setters throwing the ball off the block and out but not getting the call, mysterious out of rotation calls, and getting called over everytime you attack an overpass). I don't know if it is because they haven't been highly exposed to these plays but I still think if you look at volleyball referees on a global scale (not only comparing to Canada/USA) they are still wrong...
Chad
Post a Comment