The 34-year-old, three-time World Cup winner with Győr and silver medalist in the World and European Championships with the Dutch national team had a two-year absence even after his first ETO era. Since then, her life has changed considerably, she and her Greek husband live on the island of Santorini.
„Santorini is very livable, even if there are many tourists in the high season he told Nemzeti Sport Yvette Broch. – It is interesting to see that they come to the island from all over the world. At the same time, I like that my life is much calmer than it was before. As a handball player, it was all about how to get ahead in your career, how to be the best version of yourself. Everything is much slower on the island, there are no highways, no traffic lights, it’s all about quality, not quantity. We also chose Santorini because my husband had lived on the island for twenty years before we met, and he has many job opportunities here. It is not certain that we will settle here permanently, I gave myself enough time to decide on this, but now we are having a good time.”
He also revealed that he had an interesting job this year: “Stray dogs cause a lot of problems in Santorini. I met the owner of a shelter who needed help, and I said, why not?! I made the right decision, because I really liked the task.”
Anyone who has been following Broch’s posts on social media lately may have noticed that faith has often come up in them. When we asked him about it, his eyes immediately lit up, and he seemed happy to talk about it.
„Even though I won so many titles as a player, I still felt empty – started the answer from a distance. – Therefore, I constantly asked myself questions, why am I here, what is my purpose in life? Although I achieved my dreams, they didn’t really make me happy. I did some research on the spiritual world, but at first I just focused on myself. Then I listened to a woman’s confession about how she found Jesus. As a child, I went to church several times with my family, but I never understood the point. As I listened to the woman’s words, something suddenly dawned on me that I had been searching for this truth for years.”
Broch added that, as a result, he started reading the Bible during his last season in Győr. He struggled with the Old Testament, but he didn’t give up, then heeded a piece of advice and switched to the New Testament, listening to a number of podcasts on the subject.
„Once I understood more about what it was about, it completely reshaped my thinking. The exact opposite is true, as the stimuli coming from the outside want to lead. At first, it confused me that what the world had suggested until then, what would make you happy in life, didn’t work. However, I have felt it in my own example before. It immediately made sense to me, which is what Jesus’ teaching is about sharing everything. You are not in this world for yourself, but to serve others. I finally got the answer, knowing which I started to see everything completely differently. I believe that we all carry a kind of void in our hearts that nothing in this world can fill. We were created in such a way that only our relationship with God can fill it – no person or success can replace it. The teaching of Jesus helps us reconnect with the purpose and love for which we came into the world.”
In the semi-finals of the World Cup, he commented on the events as an expert for a Dutch television station. As he said, he felt the invitation really suited him, he knows this world so well, what goes on in the minds of the Dutch players at such a big tournament. Although he regrets that a domestic world competition was left out of his career, he was a part of uplifting moments when, together with several of his former teammates, he was officially dismissed from the national team after the group stage win against the French. “I already said goodbye to the national team two years ago, but it was a nice gesture that the association thought of this at home. I couldn’t have found a better opportunity for it, and in the end I really liked the whole thing.”
Regarding the Dutch national team, he said that his game was built nicely during the World Cup, even if he had easier opponents before the French.
“Against the French, the great start determined the entire match. In the second half, even the Dutch team made more mistakes, it is not certain that this will fit in the continuation. Let’s not forget that the French were missing key players, so we had to live with the opportunity that presented itself Broch added, and then turned to the evening’s quarterfinals. – I am sure that a tough match awaits the Dutch national team against the Hungarian team. Honestly, I’d put the odds at 50:50. I know the Hungarian players, they have their own style, which I like. If the Dutch can rush as they like, the Hungarians will have a hard time. If, on the other hand, the pace of the Hungarian team prevails, it will have a good chance to win.”
