A Lasting Friendship Through Volleyball

They, too, could not stop the passage of time: the young men became husbands and fathers, and whenever they meet— can be together again and move about—they are are like one big family. Volleyball weaves tight bonds around them. Including the “youngsters”; their average age is 45, but they pay no heed to this, because their sport still means a lot to them, even in the face of their initial “rustiness.” . Veszprém RC once competed in the Extra League, but for its veterans, the game is no longer about winning; they get together more for fun, though they do compete in the Hungarian Cup from time to time. 

A weekday evening in Nemesvámos. The main participants arrive at the gym one after another, as we had agreed in advance, well before their training sessions, so that we could paint a picture of them together— wondering what has happened to them since they were pushed out of the news. The other day, we hosted the Szolnok FRKSI at our county seat, who treated them just as they had in the previous two years—with a lineup packed with top-tier professional athletes and airmen from MÁV Előre Foxconn Székesfehérvár and Debreceni EAC, but the Bakony “muskétások (musketeers)” engaged in a thrilling battle with all three of their rivals. It was as if, as hosts, they wanted to show that at one time they possessed extraordinary skills, had an extraordinary team, in general, that talent is something that doesn’t just fade away. Of course, they haven’t got any younger either—they don’t deny this, and why would they, when with their appearance and their “modern performance” — but their love of the game, their camaraderie, and their friendship have deepened even further with the passing of the years. And this carries more weight than their faded speed, the , but there’s nothing unusual about the fact that they can no longer handle the grind the way they did in their prime. Of course, there’s no need to worry about them, because they’re still well-suited to teamwork; when it comes down to it, they certainly know how to fight for each other, and the things that might seem routine are still second nature to them.

The team that once included Szabolcs Horváth, Ervin Németh, Csaba Klausz, Péter Katona, Attila Urbauer, Dezső Marton, Péter Veisz, Gergely Jánosik, György Seck, Dániel Bolvári, László Németh, Krisztian Balta, and Róbert Kemény, are piecing together the complete picture from tiny puzzle pieces. The club, which started in the top domestic league, found itself in a difficult situation eleven years ago when the Hungarian Volleyball Federation relegated them to NB II. The athletes refused to play in the lower division; instead, they turned their backs on each other and on the sport they had been playing since childhood. They didn’t wait for the situation to become completely untenable; they scattered in all directions. Many of the players, who had been amateurs until then, went abroad to work, while others tried their luck at home as employees or as entrepreneurs. Six to eight years ago, they ran into each other again, sat down for a drink and a chat, and then agreed that, alongside their other commitments, they would start playing volleyball again. They were unable to say no to each other or to the sport, as they all fondly remembered—and still do today—the good old days. They have cherished VRC—a training center that was nationally renowned decades ago—deep in their hearts. It is the place where they once formed a wonderful community. Since then, about a dozen of them have been practicing from time to time. They are proud to have made it this far, to be together from time to time. Even today, they welcome each other warmly and, if necessary, give each other a good scolding. But besides training, they also enjoy reminiscing: they fondly recall the good times, while the bad ones have long been forgotten. Since then, they have all retired from competitive play and laid their cards on the table. They have grown older and wiser, yet their victories and stories bind them together. Moreover, they feel they owe it to the sport to play volleyball, even if only at an amateur level, for their own enjoyment.

Their passion for the game hasn’t faded even in their old age; they prove that you can’t just outgrow it. Although the years pass, children come along, and there’s family and work, volleyball has always meant something to them—and it still does today. It seems they’ll never give it up. Sometimes it hurts here, then there, but they say it’s fine as long as it hurts somewhere. Their warm-ups no longer take place so much on the field as in the locker room, using various creams to try to protect themselves from the physical strain, but even those can’t work miracles. They’re not as fit as they used to be, yet they make no excuses on the court: they don’t let themselves off the hook when it comes to volleyball. Their movements have naturally slowed down, and their agility isn’t what it used to be, but their shots are still accurate, and their positioning is beyond reproach. They serve as an example of how one can remain active even past the age of fifty: perhaps not with the same vigor as in youth, but certainly with deliberation. After all, beyond simply maintaining one’s health, such activities can also give rise to moments of joy.

Author: Ferenc Király