Rebekka Kadijk

Who is Rebekka Kadijk?

Rebekka de Kogel-Kadijk is a Dutch professional beach volleyball and indoor volleyball player born in Werkendam.

In indoor volleyball Kadijk started her career in 1992 at Foranto Werkendam. Other teams she played for were Sliedrecht Sport, Cornix Schelle and AMVJ. She was also part of the Dutch youth team in 1995. She quit indoor volleyball in 2001 to concentrate 100% on beach volleyball.

She started her international beach volleyball career in 1997, exploring the sand around the world with her sister Debora. Together they were a talented team. Between 1997 and 2000 they were Dutch national champions. They won the silver medal at the European Championships in Rhodos 1998 and a bronze medal in 2000. They also participated at the 2000 Summer Olympics, where they lost both of their matches, eliminated in the second preliminary round by Lina and Petia Yanchulova, also sisters. At the end of the Olympic tournament Debora decided to quit volleyball and the team was broken up. Rebekka wanted to continue and searched for a new partner, which she found in Marrit Leenstra. In 2001, 2002 and 2004 another three Dutch national titles were won. In Basel 2002 Kadijk/Leenstra reached the final of the European Championships. They lost this final, earning a silver medal. Their main achievement was made in 2003 when they won the World Cup meeting in Lianyungang. They qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics, but met with little success there. After the Olympics they decided to split up. Kadijk's next partner was Merel Mooren and, like Rebekka's earlier teams, Kadijk/Mooren were nearly unbeatable in their own country. In 2005 and 2006 they became Dutch national champions. In both 2005 and 2006 they reached the final of the European Championships. They lost on both occasions, earning two more silver medals. In 2007 they won the final of the German Masters in Hamburg, their first European Tour Tournament win.