1. How were you first introduced to Volleyball?

I swam competitively for 6 years before I moved to volleyball. My mum used to play for fun and so at the age of 12 I joined a local team in the Czech Republic and I never looked back. 😊 I loved and love being part of a team!

2. What was the most difficult skill to master on court?

The most difficult skill I had to master on the court was to develop the mental strength to overcome the fear, at the age of 17, of playing again after a big surgery on my knee. I was out for a year, I tore all ligaments in my knee playing volleyball and it took me a while to get back to my best.

3 What makes you most proud of our Volleyball Family?

I’m proud of our Volleyball Family because it’s made up of an amazing community of people from all over the world. I love how open, friendly and fun our community is. I felt very welcome when I came to England in 2004 and would not have met my husband Mark had it not been for volleyball. 😊  

4. What has been your greatest volleyball achievement?

I think my greatest Volleyball achievement was winning the National Cup in 2008 when I played for ULU (University of London Union). As a local league team, we were the underdogs in the competition and we managed to win the Final after being 0-5 down in the 5th set against Polonia.

And my most memorable achievement in beach volleyball was winning the Weymouth tournament in 2013, a year after I had my first son, Michael. 😊

5. What are you missing most during the lockdown?

I definitely miss seeing people and running our SideOut beach volleyball club, but we are trying to keep in touch with our members in many different ways. For example, we are helping everyone keep fit at home through our SideOut Fitness online sessions, which we run twice a week. We also recently launched the new “InSideOut” chat series, where our viewers have the opportunity to get to know athletes, coaches and other personalities from the global beach volleyball community.

6. What are you looking forward to most once the lockdown is over?

I look forward to being able to travel and visit our families abroad once the lockdown is over.

Thank you Gabi.

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