It was the year 2008: Floris was confident of his place
in the National Team and told his family to book tickets
to Beijing to watch him play. But in fact he was ‘off
track’ at that moment. The coach was not that confident
about him still being valuable for the team. Floris got
passed. And worse: he had to tell his family that he was
not able to join their holiday, which was actually
planned around his victories. With no money to cancel
pla
his family’s tickets, all other planes fully booked and no
more hockey games. Floris felt like stopping his hockey
career forever.
But his fans remained. Nadine, a young girl who passed
away from cancer, was Floris’ biggest fan. She sent him
a drawing in which she showed her faith in him. This
drawing turned out to be an important keepsake for
Floris in his decision to not give up. He used a television
show to ask the coach to reconsider taking him with
them to Beijing. That would be the only chance of
joining his family. His goal was to attend two more
jo
Olympics, one to watch his colleagues, and one being
a player himself. Floris took control of his own decisions.
7
Interior_Brewed_Oktober2014.indd 7
22-10-14 12:04