A Floorballmaniatv Dorothee Vogelesang

Foto Dorothee Vogelesang

Floorballmaniatv today brings you to know a goalkeeper who makes his position and his ability to understand where the ball will go, his strong point. 

You are a goalkeeper who left Holland, his native country, last year to move to the Czech Republic, where he plays today, with the AC Sparta Praha team.

 We are talking about Dorothee Vogelesang

 1) Hi Dorothee thank you for accepting, first of all how are you after this pandemic period? introduced to our readers, who are you and what do you do in life besides teaching floorball? 

1) Hello all, as the pandemic is slowly reverting us to move to normal live I am honestly feeling better every day. In Czech Republic we are allowed to train again since a few weeks, and most social events are restarting (with the appropriate measurements taken).

 I can say I have missed training with my club a lot and I am happy to have the social interactions again.

As you indicate I am Dorothee Vogelesang, 34 (almost 35) years old and since a year playing in Prague with ACEMA Sparta. Besides being an active player and coach for the female goalies of ACEMA Sparta, I am active as the secretary for the Dutch Floorball Federation. 

Besides this all, I have a full-time job at a big international company in the oil industry as a contract manager.

2) When do you discover floorball? And why do you decide to play it? 

2) I discovered floorball in 2010, when one of my friends took me to the training to show me what she was so happy about. The second training I joined, turned out to be a partial training for the National Team, but they made me feel very welcome and showed me how to play and helped me get some idea of what the game could be. I saw a good sports culture, open and friendly, but also a fast strong sport with tactics and athletic needs. This triggered me to keep coming

3) what was your first floorball team? And when did you decide to become a goalkeeper? 

3) I have been a member of HSK The Hague (which when I started was named HDM Floorball). My first team was a collaboration with the club from TU Delft, home of Blue Falcons. Although we had many collaboration women's teams, I never left HSK until I transferred to ACEMA Sparta Praha.

Foto Dorothee Vogelesang

My first 2 seasons I was dedicated defender, but in the third season our then goalie was injured and I stepped in the goal so our team was able to complete the season. It turned out I was not too bad at this, so I decided that I would like to stay goalie.

4) Have you been playing for a long time, can you tell us your biggest disappointment in floorball, and also your biggest emotion?

4) So by now I have been playing about 10 years, and as I am quite a positive person I find it hard to select a moment of disappointment. But as a goalie, I think I have to choose the moment where I was not selected for the National Team. This was in 2016, and I had attended every national team training since I was invited to participate and didn't get selected even though I worked hard to be selected. Now I know I wasn't ready for the level, but it was disappointing to hear that the hard work I had put in did not make it to being selected. 

As indicated I have many good emotions/memories with the sports, but one of my favorites is the Blindsave camp I attend yearly. Camp is so much fun, it is not common to have so many goalies, off all levels, together - all working hard to become better. Also it brings people together that have so much passion for the sports and each year is like a big reunion, I was quite disappointed this years' camp was cancelled...

 5) You are a player of the AC Sparta Praha team, what differences did you find between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic? How did your team go until the pandemic stop? 

5) There are quite some differences between the training in Netherlands and here in Prague. In Netherlands the training groups are mostly mixed (male and female together), as to here there are dedicated training for both. 

I have trained with a team on the highest level in Czech Republic for a while, and they have not just hall time together, but also overall fitness, and individual training to improve all. The dedication of people in the sports is big and that pays off for the players and teams. It is close to impossible to compare as the sport is of such different size in the countries.

My team didn't train as a group during the lock-down, but we all aimed to stay active and fit, as much as possible. Since we are allowed to train again, the turn out to training is quite high and we can see that most of us have been working hard.

6) what would you say to a girl or boy to make him choose the floorball, in front of other more famous sports?

6) I think that most parents want to hear that floorball is relatively save, as the ball breaks (bends) when you step on it. And when coaches are aiming on applying the rules of the game, little amounts of incidents happen.

But for the players to be, it is a sport that is fast, fun and that needs your brain and body to work. As the sport is team based I think you can make friends soon and have fun together.

 7) what do you say to the smaller goalkeepers who watch you while you train? What advice can you give him? 

7) I work with goalies of small posture as well as some taller ladies. I tell all goalies to film themselves and their positions, or I will film them during training. The size of your posture gives the approach /position to each situation, smaller postured goalies have to leave the goal-line to have better cover of the goal (make it harder to score).

Foto Dorothee Vogelesang

8) After this quarantine and the various recovery phases, how do you think we can start again? 

8) if you cannot work out in the goal, work on strength of your body. Try not to just hit the weights, but also go running, build on your balance, play catch with a ball every day - stay active. If you have video's of your matches and/or a training, review them. 

Take the moment to take care of your goalie kit, find out if all is ready to return to play.

Returning to the pitch might be a while in some countries, but it helps to find a buddy to work out with. Have and keep a rhythm, in working out but also in sleeping and focus on healthy eating.

Foto Dorothee Vogelesang

Thank you so much for your availability, floorballmaniatv was happy to interview you.

I would like to indicate to all, work hard and have fun!