Van der Voort sees a notable role for footballer's son in collaboration with Van Barneveld: "It would make a great documentary, because I'm very curious"

On Monday, news broke that Raymond van Barneveld will team up with former Ajax footballer Rafael van der Vaart to get his career back on track. In the latest episode of the Darts Draait Door podcast, Vincent van der Voort expressed surprise. He also added an intriguing twist.

"I hadn't anticipated this; it's a unique collaboration," said Van der Voort. He is curious to see how it will play out. "Raymond made that cry for help (after the World Darts Championship, ed.) that he needs help. But he said he needs someone to be with him 24/7. I don't think Van der Vaart is the type for that. I'm very curious to see how he views it."

The former pro then shared a tidbit that could make the collaboration even more remarkable. "Rafael's son regularly comes to our darts shop," said Van der Voort. He was referring to the darts store he runs with his wife and son in Zaandam. "He's a good darts player, so maybe he can train with Raymond, giving him a training partner."

Like Van der Vaart senior, Damián van der Vaart is active at Ajax, although he currently plays his matches with the youth side in the Keuken Kampioen Divisie. So besides football talent, darts also runs in the family. His father was and is, according to Van der Voort, a true darts enthusiast.

"When we played a lot of tournaments in Germany and he was still with HSV, he would come by regularly. When he was injured at Ajax (in the early days of his football career, ed.), he spent eight months just throwing. He enjoyed that. But then he started a relationship with Sylvie Meis, and things went downhill. He is a true darts enthusiast."

Van der Voort is also genuinely wondering how this partnership will ultimately turn out. "They're going to have coffee first, and we'll have to wait and see what comes of that conversation. It would make a great documentary, because I'm very curious. It's fun to follow such a unique collaboration. We already have Dirk Marcellis (former Dutch international and former defender for AZ and PSV, ed.) a footballer who plays darts. He's a sports psychologist and talks a lot with Gian van Veen, for example. But this is something completely different," he concluded.