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| 2000 World Championship - News |
| News | Draw Sheets | Photos | Final Results |
A Word from a Former World Champion An Interview with Christie Van Hees - August 7, 2002 The 1998-2000 World Racquetball Champion in Women's Singles is Canada's Christie Van Hees. We contacted Christie at her home in Kelowna, British Columbia. She has been avidly watching the results of the 2002 World Championships on the internet. Here are some of her thoughts on competing. Question: The individual part of the competition is over and several matches were lost by just one or two points. How do elite players deal with the losses -- does a close loss affect them differently than a blow-out? CVH: In theory a close loss should be more tolerable than a blow-out in this type of two-part competition. A blow-out can cause considerable anger, embarrassment, and questions of "what the heck just happened out there," and "I thought someone was supposed to wake me up this morning". Most significantly though a blow-out means that your confidence level will drop to an all time low, especially if you just lost to someone you usually pummel. This means that it takes more time getting comfortable in your next round of matches, and therefore a greater chance of a loss. A close loss may still cause considerable anger, but leaves room for blaming the ref, your stubbed toe, or in some cases your partner who's spent the summer swatting flies rather than rolling balls. In this case, your confidence level is still in the recovery zone, and you are more apt to go out and reap revenge on whomever stole your gold medal from you. Question: Do you think the individual gold-medallists are more likely or less likely to repeat their performance at the team level? CVH: It is very difficult to win both rounds of competition especially if you have just won your first World Championship Title. Winning a World Championship title is definitely up there in 'what I did on my summer vacation'. Staying focussed on trying to reach this goal twice in ten days is incredibly tough, but not impossible. This is where your coaches and teammates play a large role in bringing you back from cloud nine after your victory and making you focus on what is important at this moment. Question: The team has a day of rest today. What are some of the things that players do to prepare themselves for the team competition? CVH: It is always a good idea to take the first half of the day of rest and remove yourself from the club, the drawsheets and anyone who may be grinding on your nerves by now. Things I have seen players do on their day off in the past: laundry, tour of the countryside, poolside, market-shopping, room service (chicken sandwich) with a good movie, emailing, hanging out with other team members from other countries and most of all relaxing. The night-time should definitely be spent with your teammates solely developing plans to roll balls from the ceiling, all with one thing in mind...winning gold for your country. This is where a sense of excitement and anticipation to play should begin and gain momentum. A team dinner is most likely in the works. Question: If you were in Puerto Rico today as a spectator or a coach, what would you say to the team members as they prepare to defend their World Championship? CVH: If I were a coach I would know enough about my athletes to figure out what drives them to win, whether it's a lost friend, a grandmother, a wife, a boyfriend, dog, mother, father or child. I would remind them of their inspiration to win. I would bring up the Olympic Gold medal win by Canada's hockey teams, to create a sense of what it feels like to dominate. Then I would show a picture of the 2000 World Champion National Team together with the cup and remind them of what it felt like and what it could possibly feel like. If I were still playing, I would ask Green, Cerese, Istace, Wasi, Powell, Odegard and MacDonald when the heck it was my turn to put our 2000 World Championship Cup on my mantle at home! Oh yeah, and I would get them to answer questions like you're asking, because I'm even getting motivated to rip some balls right now just talking about it. Question: What are you up to these days? Do you wish you were there in San Juan? CVH: I'm on my way to Barbados in September to work for eight months with the Barbados Olympic Association promoting Olympic Ideals to youth at risk. This was an opportunity given to me through the Commonwealth Games Association, because of my accomplishment in sport and bachelor's degree. Otherwise I've been racing my horse, hanging with my dog on the farm and cheering my honey on at every large motocross event this side of Saskatoon. San Juan??? I miss the competition, the bad jokes at everyone's expense, the laughs, the nice hotels, with the nice pools, my best friend, and the post-tournament shindig. It's fair to say this is just a little break for me. |
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