Kim Staelens
Encyclopedia
Kim Staelens is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province West Flanders...
) is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
professional volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
player born in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. Her older sister Chaïne
Chaïne Staelens
Chaïne Staelens is a female volleyball player, who plays as a wing-spiker for the Netherlands. She was a member of the Dutch National Women's Team that won the gold medal at the FIVB World Grand Prix 2007 in Ningbo, PR China...
is also a Dutch international volleyball player. Their father Jean-Pierre played many international matches for the Belgium national volleyball team. Staelens speaks Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. She's currently under contract at Italian team Asystel Novara
Asystel Novara
Asystel Novara is an Italian volleyball club.The team participated in the Women's CEV Champions League 2007-08, finishing with the bronze medal. 8 of the 16 players in the 2007-2008 squad have represented various nations in the Olympic Games.-2010-11 squad:As of June 2010...
. Kim Staelens plays as a setter and is able to spike at 305 cm, while she is capable of blocking at 301 cm.
International team career
Born in Belgium both Staelens sisters were known to be talented players and decided to acquire for Dutch citizenship because they did not see enough future in the Belgian teamBelgium women's national volleyball team
The Belgium women's national volleyball team represents Belgium in international women's volleyball competitions and friendly matches.-World Championship:* 1956—15th place* 1978—22nd place-European Championship:...
. As their mother is Dutch both were welcomed in The Netherlands and became national team regulars shortly after. So far she has played 154 international matches for the Dutch team
Netherlands women's national volleyball team
The Netherlands women's national volleyball team is the national team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is governed by the Nederlandse Volleyball Bond .- Current Squad :as of 2011 Pre-European Olympic Qualification Tournament:...
. Staelens was part of the Dutch squad for the 2006 World Championship
2006 Volleyball World Championship for women
The 2006 FIVB Women's World Championship was held in Japan, from October 31 to November 16, 2006. This was the 15th edition of the FIVB World Championship, and the FIVB decided to host both men´s and women's championships in the same country....
where the placed 8th. She was also part of the team during the 2007 Boris Yeltsin Cup in Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
where the Dutch won the silver medal after losing the final to China (3-1).
Club team career
Hermanas Wervik VC Wevelgem Bonduelle WC VC Weert Marcq en Baroeul USSPA Albi USC Munster HCC/net Martinus AmstelveenHCC/net Martinus Amstelveen
HCC/net Martinus Amstelveen is a Dutch volleyball club which is playing their home matches at the Emergohal in Amstelveen.The team participates in the Women's CEV Champions League 2006-07-Previous names:*....-2004 Schipper K/Martinus Amstelveen...
At the age of 15 Staelens decided to join her sister and play abroad in the Netherlands. Before that she played mainly in the reserve teams in the Belgian First division. As being only 15 years old she was having a hard time keeping up with her team mates during her first season in The Netherlands at Bonduelle WC. She moved to VC weert and during her second season at the club in 1999 she captured her first two prizes, winning both the Dutch league and the cup.
In 2000 she moved to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
to play for Marcq en Baroeul, where she struggled to find her place in the team. She however decided to stay in France, but moved to another team. Also at USSPA Albi she was unable to become a key player and to get used to the French lifestyle. She then found her way to Germany where she signed a contract with USC Munster.
In Munster things went better for herself which also resulted in better results. During her first season she did not capture any prizes but Munster finished in both the German league and cup in second position. One year later they showed their potential and were able to win both competitions. Staelens was at that time still part of the Munster team, however she did miss the crucial part of the season due to a knee injury.
This knee injury prevented her from playing volleyball during the 2004 and 2005 seasons and she was recovering from her injury in a sports clinic in Zeist
Zeist
Zeist is a municipality and a town in the central Netherlands, located east of the city of Utrecht.-Population centres :*Austerlitz*Bosch en Duin*Den Dolder*Huis ter Heide*Zeist- The town of Zeist :...
. For a long time it was unsure whether she was able to return to her top level. As soon as she was able to play in the later part of 2005 she was however immediately being called up for the national squad and participated in several tournaments. Like most of her fellow national squad members and coach Avital Selinger
Avital Selinger
Avital Haim Selinger is a retired volleyball player, who twice represented the Netherlands at the Summer Olympics.-References:...
she decided to sign a contract with HCC/net Martinus Amstelveen to be part of a unique project on their way to the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
. It was not much of a surprise that Martinus captured both the Dutch league title as they Dutch cup in that year.
Prizes
- Dutch National Championship title: 1999 (VC Weert), 2006 (Martinus)
- Dutch National Cup title: 1999 (VC Weert), 2006 (Martinus)
- German National Championship title: 2003 (USC Munster)
- German National Cup title: 2003 (USC Munster)
Awards
- best setter at the 1999 European Youth Championship in PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
- best setter at the 1999 Youth Eight Nations Tournament in FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
- runner-up setter at the 2003 European Championship in TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
- 4th best blocker at the 2003 World Grand Prix
- 4th best server at the 2003 World Grand Prix
- 4th best setter at the 2003 World Grand Prix