Celeste Elle Plak (born 26 October 1995) is a Dutch

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. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

player, who plays as an outside hitter. She plays for

Victorina Himeji is a women's volleyball team based in Himeji, Japan. The owner of the team is Masayoshi Manabe, former Head Coach of the Japan women's national volleyball team. The club was founded in 2016. Himeji entered the V.League in 2018 playing in V.Chal ...

, and is the first non-caucasian player to be a part of the

Netherlands women's national volleyball team ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Personal

Plak was born in

Tuitjenhorn Tuitjenhorn ( West Frisian: ''Tutinghorn'') is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen. Tuitjenhorn was the main village of the former Harenkarspel municipality. Tuitjenhorn lies about 9 ...

, daughter of

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, gen ...

world champion Kenneth and Dutch volleyball player Karin. She has a younger brother,

Fabian Fabian may refer to: People * Fabian (name), including a list of people with the given name or surname * Pope Fabian (died 250), Catholic saint * Fabian Forte (born 1943), 1950s American teen idol, singer and actor, known by the mononym Fabian * ...

, who also plays volleyball. Plak went to the

Johan Cruyff College Johan Cruyff Institute is an educational institution, founded by Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, aimed at educating athletes, sport and business professionals in the field of sport management. History The academic institution was founded in 199 ...

in Nijmegen. Plak is a fan of

Anouk Anouk is a Dutch female given name and diminutive of Anna. People * Anouk, or Anouk Teeuwe, (born 1975), Dutch singer-songwriter * Anouk Aimée Nicole Françoise Florence Dreyfus (born 27 April 1932), known professionally as Anouk Aimée () ...

, with her favourite songs being " Nobody's Wife", "Good God" and "Down and Dirty".

Career

Plak was first taken by her mother to the volleyball school she worked in at the age of 6. When she was 10, she was invited to join the Nederlandse Volleybal School, and after two months there, Plak left the selection because she thought she was not good enough. After retreating to local club De Boemel, a few months later her former coach visited her matches during the national Dutch youth championships in

Sneek Sneek (; fy, Snits) is a city southwest of Leeuwarden and the seat of the former municipality of Sneek in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. As of 2011 it is the seat of the municipality of Súdwest-Fryslân (Southwest Friesland). T ...

. He was impressed and convinced her to come back as she had a good chance to make it to the national elite team. Plak eventually was accepted into the Dutch youth national team, the Jeugd Oranje (Orange Youth) in 2009, at the age of 13. Her coach said Plak would become the first black player in the

Dutch national team Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

, which she achieved in 2013, debuting at the

FIVB World Grand Prix The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix was an annual women's volleyball competition created in 1993. The men's version of the competition was called World League. This event should not be confused with the other international volleyball competitio ...

. As an intern for the Orange Youth, Plak lived at the national sports centre in

Papendal Olympic Training Centre Papendal is the national training centre of the Netherlands, located in the Veluwe woods from Arnhem. Papendal is the home base of NOC*NSF and football club SBV Vitesse SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal ...

, only returning home during weekends. After playing a year with the first division (''eerste divisie'') club Dinto in

Warmenhuizen Warmenhuizen ( West Frisian: ''Wermehúze'') is a town in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Schagen, and lies about 8 km northwest of Heerhugowaard. An agricultural community. The area surrounding the ...

, the Dutch federation advised her to start playing for a team in the highest division (''eredivisie''). She could choose between

Weert Weert (; li, Wieërt ) is a municipality and city in the southeastern Netherlands located in the western part of the province of Limburg. It lies on the Eindhoven–Maastricht railway line, and is also astride the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal. Popu ...

and Alterno Apeldoorn. Because she wanted to stay at Papendal, where she attended

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

, she chose Alterno. She was sixteen years old than. Plak still had to travel a lot, especially in the weekends when Alterno played matches on both Saturdays and Sundays. During these weekends she could stay at the home of the assistant coach a former international player, together with her husband and three children. Later she got her own room in the house and sometimes she stayed there six days a week. After many years ignoring offers by foreign teams, during a

2014 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrele ...

qualification match in Croatia, Plak was seen by manager Donato Saltini. He helped her to an international club:

Volley Bergamo Volley Bergamo is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Bergamo and currently playing in the Serie A1. Previous names Due to sponsorship, the club have competed under the following names: * Volley Bergamo (1991–1992) * Foppapedretti Ber ...

in Italy, for which she started playing in the 2014–15 season. She moved to

Bergamo Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes C ...

where she had an appartement near the city. Plak was the Netherlands' top scorer at the

Awards

Clubs

National championships

*2013/2014 Gold medal with cup

Dutch Championship, with Alterno *2016/2017 Gold medal with cup

Italian Championship, with

Igor Gorgonzola Novara AGIL Volley is an Italian women's volleyball club based in Novara and currently playing in the Serie A1. Previous names Due to sponsorship, the club have competed under the following names: * AGIL Trecate (1984–1999) * AGIL Volley Trecate ...

References

External links

Celeste Plak
at the

International Volleyball Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Plak, Celeste 1995 births Living people Dutch women's volleyball players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Expatriate volleyball players in Italy People from Harenkarspel European Games competitors for the Netherlands Volleyball players at the 2015 European Games Volleyball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Outside hitters Serie A1 (women's volleyball) players Olympic volleyball players of the Netherlands Aydın Büyükşehir Belediyespor volleyballers Sportspeople from North Holland 21st-century Dutch women