Netherlands:

She hoped for the best, but was secretly anticipating a summer with the Dutch Junior Team. Logical too: at twenty years old, that’s where she belongs in terms of age. Or so she thought. Until national coach Raoul Ehren told her earlier this month that he would like to keep her with his group. As the only youngster. Her heart made a jump.

One by one they had to report to the improvised office of national coach Raoul Ehren at the edge of the field hockey field after the last national team practice, just before the playoffs. The four youngsters who were given a taste of the big Orange in the past period. There they heard whether they would spend the summer with their peers, or stay with the Dutch team.

Imke Verstraeten, Trijntje Beljaars and Noor van den Nieuwenhof – the fifth youngster Maud van den Heuvel heard earlier that she had to rejoin the youngsters – had already been there, when finally it was Eline Jansen’s turn. The 20-year-old midfielder from Kampong had already heard the messages that had been told to the rest. They had to go back to the young squad. When she too was finally allowed in, she expected the same message.

WV2024 WV2R2408 scaled - Netherlands: - She hoped for the best, but was secretly anticipating a summer with the Dutch Junior Team. Logical too: at twenty years old, that's where she belongs in terms of age. Or so she thought. Until national coach Raoul Ehren told her earlier this month that he would like to keep her with his group. As the only youngster. Her heart made a jump.

Imke Verstraeten, Trijntje Beljaars and Eline Jansen. Photo: Willem Vernes

‘This will make me play better’

‘I’m really a nervous person. Was I waiting there for a bit,’ Eline Jansen looks back on the conversation with the national coach with a big smile. ‘He started about Kampong. Then about the World Cup with the Dutch Junior Team,’ she shares the chat. ‘He said I was going to play the World Cup anyway. But that he wanted to keep me in his selection for now. For the Pro League and possibly for the European Championship,’ she says. ‘I was really pleasantly surprised. That really does so much good with you. It really makes me play better.’

Ehren only chose Jansen because he expects she has a better chance of getting playing minutes in the big national team than the rest do, he said earlier. Jansen was not only noticed by the Brabander, a year ago she already played herself into the spotlight. Back then, she received an invitation from predecessor Paul van Ass, to train with him as a trainee for two months. How come? For a moment Jansen is silent. She is, of course, very modest. ‘I think I’m doing well,’ is her simple conclusion. ‘The fact that I got to participate last year was super cool. I think I have continued to develop since then. That’s why I’m allowed to stay on. I have also been able to play international matches in the meantime. I think it’s great to experience.

WV2024 WV2R0902 scaled - Netherlands: - She hoped for the best, but was secretly anticipating a summer with the Dutch Junior Team. Logical too: at twenty years old, that's where she belongs in terms of age. Or so she thought. Until national coach Raoul Ehren told her earlier this month that he would like to keep her with his group. As the only youngster. Her heart made a jump.

Marijn Veen and Eline Jansen. Photo: Willem Vernes

Meanwhile, the next chapter in her Orange book is already underway. As a rookie, she will be part of the Pro League selection of the Orange in June. While her peers are preparing for the U21 World Cup in Chile, she hopes to play her very first international game in the Netherlands. She has already played six times in the Orange, but that was in Argentina and India. ‘My parents have watched on television, but have not yet seen me play in real life. That will really be a dream come true, too.’

The midfielder is a striker in Orange

Kampong’s controller will not only play in the midfield in Oranje, but also in the striker. Something she always did in youth with the Utrechters. One year – as the youngest of the selection – she was a striker, the second year – as a sophomore – she was in the shaft. ‘So I’m actually used to it. I always tell myself that I’ve been promoted to striker. I really enjoy doing that, too.’

She already rewarded her promotion with a goal in the Orange. In India, she hit the ground running against Great Britain. Not a frommelgoal or a nick, but a jewel of a hit. Proof that she can play on both lines without any problems. I think that goal was the coolest moment of my field hockey career so far. That was really fantastic to experience.

WV2024 WV2R2846 scaled - Netherlands: - She hoped for the best, but was secretly anticipating a summer with the Dutch Junior Team. Logical too: at twenty years old, that's where she belongs in terms of age. Or so she thought. Until national coach Raoul Ehren told her earlier this month that he would like to keep her with his group. As the only youngster. Her heart made a jump.

Eline Jansen sat in the stands as a spectator during the Paris Olympics. Photo: Willem Vernes

The new striker of Orange can’t wait to start the preparation. Her field hockey summer may become jam-packed as far as she is concerned. ‘After the semifinals of the playoffs, we will start training with the internationals who lost. Eventually the rest will join as well,’ she says. She has resolved to enjoy everything. ‘For me, everything would have been okay. A summer with the Junior Team is also very special. Normally you should not yet be where you are already. But I am enormously proud of it.’ Whether she will play two tournaments this year – a European Championship with the Orange in August and a World Cup with U21 in December – she doesn’t know either. ‘Everything I experience is nice. That’s what I keep trying to tell myself. I don’t feel like putting extra pressure on myself. That makes no sense at all, either.’

The coming weekends she will be briefly for Den Bosch.

Her season with Kampong is over after last weekend. Slowly the sour taste of missing the playoffs is getting a place. Secretly she is especially happy that the men of Kampong do not face Den Bosch in the semifinals. Why? Because Jansen has a relationship with Timo Boers.

‘Only next weekend and possibly next weekend I am for Den Bosch. Well, mostly just for Timo,’ she laughs. The two lovebirds are at the same place in their careers. They are slowly getting a taste of the big Oranje, while just last summer they played the European Championship with the Dutch Junior Team in Terrassa, Spain. ‘It’s nice to share that together. I would love it if we were both there later, at the EC in Mönchengladbach. But I really don’t dare dream that yet.’