A curse since the first tournament
Marta’s foster father is the legendary coach Aigars Birzulis, so it is no wonder that she grew up with the dream of playing beach volleyball professionally. While studying at the Murjaņui Sports Gymnasium, the young athlete had already become one of the best in the country and in 2011 she went to the European U18 Championship in Vilnius together with her schoolmate Alisa Leci. This was the first elite-level international competition in Ozoliņa’s career, and now she admits that it was there that a kind of curse began – her entire future career consists of a continuous search for money.
“Usually, the Latvian Volleyball Federation pays for the participation of the best couple in the youth championship, but the others, who are able to qualify, go with their own money. However, that time, late in the evening before departure, they called us to tell us that the secretary of Murjaņi had stolen from the federation, and asked if we could until the next day to get 400 lats in the morning. Then we called our relatives, who each gave 20 lats, and we collected the money. It was like a stamp for living without money for the rest of my career,” says the athlete. Although in some seasons there has been a slightly more serious supporter, in general, the collection of funds for training and participation in competitions has always been on one’s own shoulders from bonuses, family support and earnings from work.
The couple Lece/Ozoliņa started participating in international competitions more regularly in 2014, but in the summer of 2015 they already played almost every week in World Cup qualification competitions or lower level tournaments. According to Marta, the lowest level Satellite and Masters both have usually earned around 200-400 dollars in competition.
Toilets cannot be afforded
In the World Cup circuit, it is customary for the participants of the main tournament to stay in the hotel free of charge, while those playing in the qualifiers have to pay for themselves. In this sense, Ozoliņa remembers the competition in Turkey in 2016, to which five Latvian duets went, as a vivid example. “Many pairs of us had already been eliminated in the qualification, but our friends Mārtiņš Pļaviņš and Haralds Regža played in the main tournament. Then we tried to sneak in to eat with them for a couple of days – we ourselves lived in a ghetto-level hotel, but we went to eat in the main one. When the decisive games were already underway and only a few couples left, chased us away.” Satellite and Masters tournaments were often held closer to home and could be reached by car, which meant that it was easier to get home after being eliminated. On the other hand, Latvian women often went to tournaments where they had to fly with only a one-way ticket, hoping to play successfully and buy a ticket home with the bonus they earned. “As I remember today, one time in the Swedish city of Laholm, when Alice had 60 euros left, I had 15, and she found cheap tickets home on the Internet. However, she mixed up the times and the tickets were for the next year,” says Ozoliņa, revealing that after that the two spent several nights on the floor in the room of Anastasijas Kravčenoks and Tina Graudiņas, who were in the main tournament. “We borrowed money from Nastya and took several forms of transport to Stockholm. There we were waiting for the train to the airport and then I realized that two tickets were not enough for us. Besides, Alice really needed to go to the toilet, which cost two euros. Then I yelled at her through laughter and tears that we can’t afford a toilet,” the athlete recalls. “Thank God, we agreed to give us a mystical discount on the ticket to the airport. Another time, we arrived in Sochi at night, but the tournament hotel was 20 kilometers from the airport. There is no money for a taxi, but the specially designated buses only took the main tournament teams for free. We thought we would play in the main tournament, and we got to the hotel, but it was not free wifi, so we can find a cheaper hotel online. We walked around the city to look for an internet network, then we booked a hotel, but the next morning we went to play. Parents have helped Alice and me as much as they can, but everything has its limits. We didn’t tell them how we wandered at night.”
On the other hand, in 2015, a trip to Satellite tournament in Vaduca, where three Latvian couples – Lece/Ozoliņa, Inese Jursone/Tīna Graudiņa and Armands Āboliņš/Haralds Regža – went with Regža’s parent’s minibus, which broke down on the way. The Latvians arrived at their destination at night and could not get inside the dormitory-type hotel found in Jursone/Graudiņa. “People let them in through the window, and so they were left to sleep on the sofa in the lobby. In the morning, a woman came, started yelling, and she was upset, even though she had already paid for living. Despite the loss in the qualification, we were the lucky losers in the main tournament, but we were alone in dear Vaduz a night at the hotel cost 150 euros. The Jacks were already living in a bus, and we joined them. The participants of the tournament were shocked that the Latvian athletes were living in a bus. The photographer of the tournament was especially surprised, who announced that if he ever had the opportunity, he would definitely accommodate us. A couple of years later with We went with Agnes Caica to a tournament in Vienna, where she had arranged to live, but did not know with whom. It was this photographer who opened the door. We were all surprised and happy.”
A huge bonus in Jurmala
Now, for the third season, the former basketball player Luize Skrastiņa has become Ozoliņa’s partner. “I believe that my career cannot just end like that. Many people laugh at me for still playing and training, but I have put in a lot of work and I believe that one day everything should come out – I don’t want to stop,” says 27-year-old Marta, who has worked to earn money in various beach volleyball halls and is also currently training in the beach center A pot, and young people in Babite. “Nothing has changed, I still train five times a week and at the same time work to have money for competitions. I don’t feel better anywhere than on the volleyball court – I love this sport very, very much, I really like to show my strength on the court, I like the difficulties experienced there. Volleyball is interesting and artistic play, it’s not just shoot, set, kick. I’m a crazy enthusiast who loves to train and play and I want to show myself and others that there’s a little more to me than that. If I’d had more support earlier in my career, I’m now , most likely, I would have achieved more, but I am grateful for life as it is, then maybe I wouldn’t want to play so much right now.” This summer, Ozoliņa/Skrastiņa won the national selection competition for participation in the World Tour Elite 16 stage in Jurmala in the main tournament. Despite the three losses experienced in Jurmala, they got a bonus of 5000 dollars and 460 ranking points. “We gained a very important base of points, which in the new system is a huge stepping stone for participation in other tournaments. Money is a super big bonus, but we more or less always find it,” says Ozoliņa, revealing that she lived alone in the free hotel of the main tournament without a partner. “Louise is a total homebody. I also like being at home, but this time I wanted to escape from everything and enjoy the hotel breakfast in peace.”
At one time, when playing with Leci, they were next to each other every day, but Marta and Louise hardly spend time together outside of training. “When you are next to the same person all the time, you even notice how annoyingly he breathes. Alice and I were like sisters, we lived, we studied together. At one point, it was all too much, which was most evident on the field, when we started the other’s statement to take it too personally. We stopped progressing and something had to be changed, which I also told Alisa. I had thought of trying to play with Agnes Caica for a year and then maybe get together with Alisa again, but she decided not to play anymore. Then Agnese also ended her career and I remained tossing and turning for several years The fact that now we are almost only training together with Luiza is a big plus – we get along very well.”
