News 07/11/2020 Dhita Juliana: Grit and gold Lausanne, Switzerland, November 7, 2020 – Dhita Juliana has an iron grit and a heart of gold. The Bima-born athlete rose to prominence through her hard work and an unyielding spirit and growing determination that have given Indonesia a string of successes in women’s beach volleyball.“Learning a skill is a skill. We don’t acquire a skill by chance, but through a long process. You have to practice hard if you want to achieve your goals,” said Juliana on coach Agus Salim’s biggest lesson he taught her in the sport.She only had her indoor volleyball skills to rely on but when the renowned Indonesian coach took her under his wing, he helped her to learn new skills on the sand that go a long way to explaining her current success.“Before we participate in any competition, we all go to a training camp. We just follow the training programme that coach Agus prepares for us.”She has benefitted from the hard yards that she has put in behind the scenes, winning gold at the Islamic Solidarity Games, silver medals on the Asian Tour and bronze medals at the Asian Beach Games, Asian Games, Asian Championship and the FIVB World Tour 1-star event in Daegu.“My typical day would have three hours of training in the morning and two and a half hours in the evening. That’s for five days a week.“My biggest achievement in an FIVB event is a bronze medal win at the Daegu 1-star in Korea. It was quite memorable because it was my very first FIVB medal.”Juliana is proud of the efforts that her national federation puts in to develop the sport in her country.“Beach volleyball is strong in Indonesia because each province has a beach volleyball training centre. The national federation selects the best athletes for the national team each year. So, development of young players here is very good.”In the midst of all the work and pressure in beach volleyball, Dhita Juliana tries to lead a normal life and hopes to help people in need after her sports career.“Outside of beach volleyball, I do normal things. I work as a government employee. On weekends I walk to the beach or the hills. Sometimes when I just want to have some quiet time, I stay in my room and read a novel.“If I weren’t a beach volleyball player, maybe after office hours I would do things that would help poor people. I have a dream to build a food stall where these people can eat as much as they want and pay whatever amount they can afford or even just repay me with prayer. Now I am still trying to earn for that dream.”She lives by example, and her faith sheds light on her daily life and athletic endeavours.“My pre-match ritual is always to think about the strengths and weaknesses of my opponents. I always pray before and after each match.“My advice for young Indonesian players is to keep practicing hard because there are no shortcuts to success. Use each defeat as a lesson to improve yourself. Never give up until the last point is scored.”Quick links:FIVB Beach Volleyball World TourFacebookTwitterInstagramYoutube Print this Page News {{item.LocalShortDate}} {{item.Title}} All the News