ANPTaco van den Honert celebrates (with Floris Jan Bovelander to his right) his second of three goals in the semi-final of the 1996 Games
NOS Sport•vandaag, 06:48
Jan-Kees van der Kun
hockey reporter NOS Sport
Jan-Kees van der Kun
hockey reporter NOS Sport
“A few years ago I was in a taxi with my wife in New York. The taxi driver kept watching us through the rear-view mirror.” Former hockey player Taco van den Honert explains. “My wife didn’t feel comfortable with that and I didn’t know exactly what to think.”
“Suddenly that driver turned around and said: “Are you Taco van den Honert?” It turned out that thirty years earlier, as a 12-year-old Pakistani boy in Lahore, he had seen how we with the Dutch team had become world champions at the expense of Pakistan.”
Too difficult quiz question
Van den Honert quotes the anecdote with a mix of surprise and pride. After all these years, the fame of the ball-enchanting dribbler of yesteryear still stood proud in the international hockey world. In some parts that is. Closer to home, Van den Honert was recently put back down to earth.
‘Which two coaches from our club won Olympic gold together?’ That was one of the questions in the quiz that former international Valentin Verga had made for his Amsterdam teammates at the start of the season preparations.
At least half looked at each other questioningly. They really had no idea. While they did not have to look further than the new head coaches of ladies 1 and men 1 respectively: Teun de Nooijer and Taco van den Honert.
Atlanta 1996: De Nooijer and Van den Honert excel in the Dutch team.
With that duo, Amsterdam has two iconic names from Dutch hockey history at the helm of the new season, which starts this weekend. The lack of historical knowledge of the youngest generation of major league players does not change this.
Not only do Van den Honert (57 years old) and De Nooijer (47) have a bulging trophy cabinet, they were also absolute star players when they won all those medals. Players who did things with a ball that no one else could. They played together in the Dutch national team for just over two years. With the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta 1996 as the highlight.
Every detail still sharp
“Now that we meet each other here so often, we naturally talk about the Games every day,” laughs De Nooijer. He says it with a wink, but has to admit that many stories from those years are discussed in the Amsterdam clubhouse during coffee breaks.
Especially about teammates and opponents. But also about endless solos, penalty corners and goals. Both men, who together have 671 international caps, appear to still have the Atlanta matches clearly in their minds. They can tell it all in detail.
ANPTeun de Nooijer in action during the semi-finals of the 1996 Games
For example, how De Nooijer cut through the refined German defense in the semi-final and served Van den Honert from the back line, who was able to score the first goal of his hat trick, helping the Netherlands to a 3-1 victory.
“But Taco’s goal in the group match against Australia was also very special,” says De Nooijer. “Technically very clever. And also very important. It was the winning goal and I remember that as we walked out we said to each other that if you can beat Australia, then you ‘all the way‘ can go.”
Young boys
They are beautiful stories. But Van den Honert and De Nooijer are now coaches of Amsterdam to achieve new successes. A serious task, especially for Van den Honert. The last national title of the Amsterdam men dates back to 2012. Last season they remained far away from the play-offs with an eighth place and the selection has certainly not become stronger on paper.
“The club has consciously chosen to build a team with young boys for the coming years,” Van den Honert explains. “Of course we want to reach the play-offs straight away, because we want that every year, but that will be really tough this season.”
Pro ShotsTaco van den Honert as trainer of Amsterdam
This is very different for women. Amsterdam is the reigning national champion, after having defeated Den Bosch and SCHC in the play-offs last season. At the entrance to the Wagener Stadium there is a life-size championship photo that reminds the players of that success during every training session and home game.
But De Nooijer also passes by there almost every day. So he knows that expectations are high. “Well, whether this is a good entry point or not? I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter,” says De Nooijer.
“We just want to play hockey with pleasure and perform to the maximum. And what is the maximum with the current national champion? Right, then you know what we are going for.”
Iconic hockey players at the helm in Amsterdam
2023-09-22 04:48:54
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