Pre-Summer Trainings I: Yasemin Güveli

We talked with Yasemin Güveli for the first episode of the "Pre-Summer Trainings" series.

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How do you feel first of all?

I've been feeling pretty good lately. Since the season we left behind, I can see that I have come closer to my goal with the trainings I have done. I have goals for the new season and I am trying very hard to reach them. Thinking that I am getting closer to the goal I have set makes me feel better every day.

We have a long summer ahead of us. How are the workouts going?

First of all, my workouts are incredibly intense. I can say that I do double training almost every day. I have a chance to take very few vacations in the next three months of summer season. One of the most important reasons for this is to catch up with my teammates and to close the gap in a season that I couldn't play due to my injury. Working hard with my trainers, we all work hard in a challenging and fast-paced program.

During the recovery process, we are working on improving my range of motion and increasing my jumping capacity. With each passing day, we shape it with programs to jump higher or to regain my reflexes while running. I'd say we're kind of trying to get back to our normal old routines.

Can you talk about the mental strength in the recovery process after your injury?

I had a really serious injury and it was not easy to deal with it psychologically. When I started training after my injury, there was a fear inside me, even if I didn't want it. It was very difficult for me to train continuously for a season in such a psychology and to try to strengthen my condition. Sometimes there were even times when I worked more than 7-8 hours a day. I'm training less now as my injury progress is starting to slow down, but it's still very difficult for me mentally. Trying to recover for a long time and taking physical therapy seriously harm you. I have felt the motivation and support of all my coaches, teammates and board members since the first day of my injury. Thanks to their support and the support of my family, I can stand strong and look ahead. I have very serious goals that I have set in front of me, no matter how tired I am, I have to end that fatigue after a point. Nothing is over yet and we are just getting started…! :)

Even though you couldn't be on the field this season, there was an incredible support from the fans in the stands. Do you want to give a message to them for the next season?

I feel their amazing support! In a way, they also give me strength. You know, we are performing on the field against the stands, against our family or our environment. The more you will be there watching you, the more you will be intertwined in it.

I also did not feel that this time, our fans are missing a piece. My loved ones in the stands, even if I didn't play, I saw my posters at the time. This made me very happy to feel that I will be loved. It gives me another reason to come back even stronger to the field. Even if I don't play they  don't forget me and make me feel that I'm a part of the team. I'm wondering what's going on after I start playing. I'm sure I'll experience a different atmosphere :)

Do you have a special moment with the supporters? 

Playing a song from one of my songs, “Adamım”, in a league match at our gym during the season. Actually, I was at a time that I never expected and I was very surprised. I looked at the tribune and everyone suddenly started calling my name. It was me singing to the song, dancing. It is one of those times where I felt that our supporters really know me well. There, associating me with the song, asking me to sing with them are priceless for me. In the new season, I'm trying to keep having a place in their hearts with new songs. :)

You are quite active on Twitter. You are in constant communication with your fans and followers, and they seem very satisfied with this, they get strength from you. Do you think you express yourself better on Twitter?

Twitter is a very different medium for me compared to Instagram. People cannot convey what they think on Instagram, it is a platform that is based on photography as the main theme and appeals to a certain part. But on Twitter, I think people can easily convey their feelings and emotions. Especially after my injury, I started to use Twitter actively. In fact, after my injury, I received so many messages of support that it started to be a source of morale and motivation for me. I can say that the comments of my followers there, especially: "Come on Yaso, we are waiting for you on the field," gave me strength in my recovery process. I would also like to open an extra parenthesis for the Twitter users of Eczacıbaşı. They are truly extraordinary…

The communication of the people there and the way they express themselves are also very good. When I feel incredibly tired mentally, I enjoy being able to write down what I feel or think there, I feel relieved. Until now, I have not come across a comment saying the opposite, so I am very happy to be using it actively.

What was the most memorable comment you received from your followers on Twitter?

In one of the videos we shot at the beginning of the season; I took the microphone and said, “This team is the best team you have ever seen.” Later, when I went to Germany with the team for the CEV Cup, I said in a video that we would be champions again. One of my followers combined the two videos and said, "After 183 days, Yaso is with us again with Awaycam, if I remember the date incorrectly." I get goosebumps every time I watch that video. Definitely one of my most memorable videos.

You will play in the Champions League again. You were selected as 'Block Buster' with your performance in the last Champions League we participated in. How does this motivate you? 

Would it be too ambitious to say that I will continue from where I left off, although I do not know how to return after the injury? :) I can promise that if I can come back as I want after my injury and if I can build on my performance in previous seasons, I would like to receive the "Block Buster" award I received again and I want to continue by putting on my performance.

I am also very hopeful about attacking for the next season. During my injury period, I worked hard to increase my arm strength. I can hit the ball according to the direction I want without feeling pain while hitting. I think this will definitely be effective in the season. I am very excited to play with an experienced setter like Maja. We've never had the opportunity to work together before. I believe that I will have a very productive and strong season with both Elif and Maja, and I can say that I am very excited for this already.

Finally, during the recovery period, we got used to seeing you at the club for hours every day. You have gone through a tiring and a time when you got stronger. How do you feel about this process?

I feel that I have matured a lot and become stronger mentally. From now on, I won't let anything hurt me easily. I think that I have changed a lot, especially in terms of behavior and mentality. I no longer get hung up on simple issues that I used to get stuck with, and this is certainly true in the field.

I learned to observe my teammates. I could clearly see from the stands that my teammates, like every athlete, were upset when they did not get time. When I look at it from the outside as someone who has experienced this process from the outside, I realized that the most important thing for me is my health. Not being able to take time on the field during the season is an important issue, I admit, but after a while I realized that it is not important enough to tie it to the ground and wear itself out.

Some things don't need to be injured to appreciate their value, the important thing is that if we are wearing the Eczacıbaşı jersey right now, we should be happy about it. Of course, we must always work to put it on top, but we will also be experiencing ups and downs during the season. One of the biggest pluses that my disability process brought me was the awareness that there are more important issues. As an athlete who has experienced this; there is also the fact that I could not wear that jersey for a season. I tried to make my teammates aware of this and to guide them by motivating them when appropriate.

This process has changed me in a way I never wanted. I'm more mature now, the activities I used to do in my free time started to give me no pleasure. I try to improve myself outside the field by trying to make good use of my spare time that I get from training. While the old Yasemin spends a lot of time on the phone with her friends, the new Yasemin struggles with the piano keys. :)

Thanks to the support of our managers, coaches and teammates, I felt more valuable here in our club, especially after my injury. Of course, I was aware that I was valuable as an athlete trained in this club, but I can say that they were with me almost every moment during my injury process. I felt the support of the club every second during my physical therapy process after my surgery and during my daily private training sessions. Even today, my coaches support me and help me train for three hours, two times a day, so that I can go back to the year better, even though we are finishing the season and taking a vacation. Likewise, although our head coach Ferhat Abi is currently in the Croatian National Team, he follows the process down to the smallest detail. I am very happy for the value the team and my club give me. I am a player who loves her club very much, I can say that I became even more connected thanks to the great support I received from them.