Anita Haak has been planning workouts, cooking, and jobs since volleyball stars Isabelle and Anna Haak were little. When Isabelle was diagnosed with fatigue syndrome two years ago, it was obvious that a solution had to be found.
My body gave up, I noticed that I couldn't play my usual style of play and my body couldn't really jump, Isabelle Haak told SVT.
An intense playing schedule put a stop to the Swedish star, both mentally and physically.
"This is what happens when you don't get a break," says mother Anita Haak.
After a nine-month season with the club team, Isabelle had three days off before it was time for the national team. Immediately after, another game with the club team awaited.
Found more balance
While 27-year-old scoring queen Isabelle Haak is hitting ball after ball at the European Championship, mother Anita is taking care of her daughter's dog, Louie. He is one reason the volleyball star can have more variety in her everyday life.
It is important for her to have a balance in her life when she is free. Now she has got a dog, has a boyfriend and does other things too. Then they have very good cohesion in the team, says Anita about the Italian club Imoco Volley Conegliano.
On Monday night, the host country, the Czech Republic, will face Sweden in the round of 16. Anita Haak will take care of the dog in Sweden while Isabelle and her sister Anna play in the European Championship finals.
“Her support means everything”
Anita managed to watch her daughters' last match in the European Championship group stage, when Sweden fell to France 1–3 in sets in Gothenburg. When Isabelle Haak left the field in Scandinavium, she had a bag of cookies with her, given to her by her mother Anita.
Dear mother, says Isabelle Haak and continues:
We don't have time to do much during the day, so she took the opportunity to give us cookies to celebrate.
Long before the star daughters started playing, it was Anita Haak who set up the first volleyball net in the garden in Ängelholm.
She usually thinks we play well all the time, even if we play badly, she just says "good job," says Anna Haak, laughing.
When Isabelle decided to take a break in 2024, she and Anita went to a cabin in northern Skåne.
Her support means everything, says Isabelle Haak.
Sweden's women's volleyball team came third in the group after the group stage in Gothenburg, which is the best group result a Swedish women's national team has achieved in a European Championship.
Four of the six teams in the group made it to the playoffs, which meant that Sweden had to head to Brno in the Czech Republic for the round of 16.
On Monday at 7:00 PM, the host country will provide the opposition, as Sweden takes on the Czech Republic on their home field.
The match will be broadcast on SVT/SVT Play.
