After Career Consult former pros

1. What is the After Career Consult?

The VVCS now offers a wide range of services for active professionals. But also those who stop or have stopped playing professional football can count on the VVCS. You can think about our career portal, reintegration and job application service.

This aftercare is now being expanded to include the After Career Consult. The After Career Consult is intended for professionals who decide to quit professional football at the end of this season, as well as for those who took that decision earlier (but no longer than 10 years ago).

Experience shows that ending an active career is quite often accompanied by complaints of a physical and mental nature. But questions such as ‘How can I wind down responsibly?’ or ‘What can I do to prevent joint wear and tear?’ also come into play.

The After Career Consult is aimed at getting answers to these questions and guiding you in this where necessary.

2. Where can you go for the After Career Consult?

The consultation is performed by the KNVB Sports Medical Centre in Zeist, under the responsibility of doctor E. Goedhart.

3. What does such a Consult consist of?

The player starts beforehand by completing a questionnaire, after which he is asked to do seven online tests. An appointment is then scheduled at the KNVB Sports Medical Centre in Zeist for a medical examination, which takes about an hour.

Based on the results, you will then receive tailored advice and/or a referral.

4. What does a consultation cost?

A consultation costs the player nothing. In 2018, the VVCS decided to participate in the pilot version of this concept developed by FIFPro. Meanwhile, the World Football Federation FIFA has also recognised its importance. This cooperation with FIFPro and FIFA has resulted in the discontinued player being able to use it free of charge. The VVCS of course wholeheartedly supports this.

5. As a (former) player, how do you make an appointment for a Consultation?

You can register with Nanja Scholten. Her e-mail address is nanja@vvcs.nl. She will help you with the obligatory formalities and making an appointment.

6. Your privacy is of course guaranteed

Naturally, your privacy and the confidentiality of your data is fully guaranteed. Your details will not be shared with third parties. Insofar as anything is stored, it is done encrypted and anonymously in a secure environment.

7. Would you like to be monitored for longer?

If you would like to be contacted again after one or eighteen months to see how you are doing then, you can. You can let us know when you register.

If you find it interesting to delve more deeply into the health challenges after a sports career, you can request the English-language book The Secret Balance of Champions – Health Challenges in Elite Sport. Nanja Scholten can also help you with this.