From Houten to LA: Golden hockey players pick up the thread again with a new coach

The Dutch hockey players are together again for the first time since the successful Olympic Games in Paris. They have a richer gold medal, and have gathered for a training internship near Utrecht. Not at the new Kampong or SCHC center, but at the small HC Houten amusement park.

The most important newcomer in Houten is not a player, but the national coach. Raoul Ehren came over this summer He must lead the Dutch team to a new gold medal at the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

“It’s wonderful to be back on the field,” said Ehren, who became a fourteen-time national champion with the women of Den Bosch and then finished fourth at the Games with the Belgian hockey players. I trained my daughter’s under 9 team but from Paris, nothing else. This is fun again.”

In addition to the national coach Ehren, more debaters are present in Houten. Babette Backers, Trijntje Beljaars, Noor van den Nieuwenhof, Emma Reijnen, Sofie ter Kuile, Imke Verstraeten and Mette Winter are experiencing a training week with the Dutch team for the first time.

Unlike all these new faces, there are two main absences. Xan de Waard, captain at the last Games, and Maria Verschoor, the oldest player in the Olympic selection, have decided to take a (temporary) step back. They choose physical and mental rest time.

“I don’t think much of that,” says Frédérique Matla. With 27 years of age and 139 international games, the attacker is one of the experienced players in the Dutch national team, especially now that De Waard and Verschoor are missing. “I think you should work these things out for yourself in your private sphere.

“But it’s not a guarantee that you’ll have a place in the election in a few months, so that’s the risk you’re taking,” Matla continues. they will soon have what they want. Whether that’s hockey with us in this process, or something else, that’s their choice.”

Ehren speaks words to the same effect. He admits that “there are never any guarantees in top sport”, but he does not want to close the door on De Waard and Verschoor. “I completely understand the situation they are in. We have agreed that if the itch starts again and they dream about the Dutch team again, they will contact us. we then around the table to see if that works.”

But the Oranje is not currently much about the people who are not there, says Matla. “It’s really good to see the girls again and to be on the field together. We also started playing hockey right away, without a long presentation from the national coach. Maybe it will come another time, but now we’re just standing on the field.”

“Just thinking and talking about hockey,” Ehren confirms. “We have a nice, experienced group here that was mainly in Paris, with a number of young players added. That creates a good dynamic.”

At the moment, it is still a matter of training for the hockey players. They won’t play their first game under Ehren until December. The selection will then travel to Argentina for Pro League matches against Germany (December 11 and 14) and Argentina (December 12 and 15).