A kind of Mother Teresa

Because Rebekka de Kogel - Kadijk has had an elite sports career herself, she can put herself in the shoes of athletes like no other. As a beach volleyball player, she was Dutch champion for many years and competed at the Olympics three times. Nowadays, she runs Beach Club Rotterdam with her husband. She does this alongside her busy job and mainly in the summer.

Asking student counsellors for understanding

Every year, Rebekka coaches between 70 and 100 top athletes. Students can apply for elite sports status, which Rebekka then assesses. Rebekka links the students who get the elite sports status to student counsellors, who know how to find everyone best within a study. "I ask for understanding from the student counsellors," she says. "I understand that not everything is possible, but how cool is it that a top athlete can also get a degree!"

Events for top athletes
Twice a year, elite sports students are invited to an event, where they can exchange knowledge. What are they up against? Often, Rebekka also invites an appealing former top athlete: "A former Olympian, for example, like Marieke Keijzer or Madelein Meppelink. The cooking workshop in the Foodlab last year was great fun. There they were educated about nutrition, but could also exchange experiences."

Planning crucial for elite sports and students

Rebekka also educates at schools about studying and elite sports. She tells them what she can and cannot do for them and what they should be aware of beforehand. Especially how well you can plan turns out to determine your chances of success. Because even a top athlete simply has to pass all the subjects.

Taking exams abroad is still very difficult in practice. Involved as she is, Rebekka can worry about this: "I sometimes find the EUR very rigid. Then I think: shouldn't this be possible nowadays? That's where I see real gains for the future. It is so clever that they do this combination of studying and elite sports. Come on guys, just smash through that!" I then think. But yes, of course there are all these committees who then have to think something of it first. I keep trying, though."

Why that tenacity? Rebekka is clear about that: "I want as much as possible to be organised for the top athletes. I think we can learn an awful lot from top athletes. Research by NOC*NSF shows that 9 out of 10 top athletes actually achieve extremely high marks and can plan and work very independently. They do sometimes require a bit of flexibility. And then I think: How bad is that?"

From budget to welfare

The brand-new Sports Building on Campus Woudestein has room for a lot of different sports. Making schedules for training sessions is quite a puzzle every year, because, Rebekka explains, "Everyone wants to play sports at prime time, of course".

Erasmus Sport employs about 25 trainers for the clubs. Associations playing at a high level can claim one of these professional trainers. Rebekah guides the 26 boards of sports associations broadly: from a realistic budget to a procedure to report undesirable behaviour. She also knows how to find the subsidy pots. "I always see myself as a kind of Mother Teresa. I am their first point of contact for anything they might need," she says about this.