Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen are up for the Team of the Year award at the NOS NOC * NSF Sports Gala
Lausanne, Switzerland, December 5, 2016 – Rio 2016 Olympic Games bronze medallists Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen were nominated for Team of the Year, while Netherlands women’s national team coach Giovanni Guidetti is up for the Coach of the Year award in the NOS NOC * NSF Sports Gala to be held on December 21.
Quick links:Rio 2016 Olympic Games - Beach volleyballRio 2016 Olympic Games - Volleyball
The nominees were determined on Sunday by a jury. Athletes who won an Olympic gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games automatically received a nomination.
Brouwer/Meeuwsen got the nomination for their historic achievement as the first Dutch pair to win an Olympic medal in the discipline of beach volleyball. The pair captured the bronze medals at Copacabana last August. They will be up against the Dutch women’s handball team and lightweight double sculls rowers Maaike Head and Ilse Paulis in the Team of the Year category.
The fourth place finish of the Dutch women’s national team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and their bronze medal at the 2016 FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix certainly did not go unnoticed by the jury, and coach Guidetti also got the nod in the Coach of the Year category. The jury had fine words for the Italian coach.
“The Dutch volleyball players indeed had potential, but Giovanni Guidetti turned out to be the catalyst to bring out their talents. Guidetti manages to inspire his players and gives them confidence.”