She moved all the way from Czech Republic to Amsterdam. Veronika Vančíková has a lot of potential, and enjoys every single minute on the basketball court. BC Apollo Amsterdam must be lucky to have a player like her!

1.  Introduce yourself, who are you?

“I am Veronika Vančíková. I come from Czech Republic, but I am studying and working in Amsterdam right now. I also play basketball at BC Apollo Amsterdam.”

2.  How, and at what age, did you start playing basketball?

“I started playing basketball when I was 8 years old. That was quite a coincidence, because I lived in England when I was 5 until I was 8 years old. I played a lot of different team sports. My mom played volleyball, and my dad played soccer, so no one in our family played basketball before. When I moved back to Czech Republic my mom’s friend had a son who played basketball, so they decided that I should join the basketball team over there.”

3.  What do you love about basketball?

“I am very passionate about working in a team in general. I have always been more into team sports than individual sports. I tried to do athletics or gymnastics, but that just wasn’t for me. Basketball is quite a dynamic sport, with a lot of action and excitement.”

4.  What kind of player are you?

“I started playing as a shooting guard, but now I am more like a point guard. Furthermore, I like to run and finish some fast breaks. I love to keep a fast paste tempo in the game, though I struggle against a zone-defense sometimes.”

5.  Is there someone who inspires you?

“Sure, I have always admired Kobe Bryant. He was one of my idols at a young age.”

6.  Where did you start playing basketball?

“One of my first clubs that I played for was USK Praha in Prague. That is one of the biggest clubs in Czech Republic. Their women’s team plays in the Euroleague. I played at USK for seven years, until I was 15 years old. I had a knee-injury, and I wanted to focus completely on my school. After a while I moved here in Amsterdam, and since then I started playing for Apollo.”

7. How was it to play at USK Praha for the first time?

“Me and my friend wanted to play for the under 13 team, but we were too young. There was a lot of rivalry between the teams in Prague. That was quite fun; that we had almost forced to beat that team, which was the most important thing back then.”

8.  USK Prague is one of the teams that plays in the Euroleague. Do you think that this organization helps making players better every year?

“I think it is, and is getting better. As the years went by, the women’s team realized to have their own training facility and right now they have a fitness gym. Basketball becomes more popular each year.”

9.  Right now you are playing at BC Apollo Amsterdam. What can you say about the team?