Waterloo Ducks’ Simon Vandenbroucke says he is “leaving the dream” with his childhood club as they look forward to their EHL KO16 Men’s date with Surbiton on October 5th.
It will be a rematch of a 2019 showdown in Eindhoven when the WatDucks edged through in a shoot-out en route to EHL gold.
Since then, a lot of water has gone under the bridge with many changes to either line-up. For goalkeeper Vandenbroucke, it came during a time spent away from his boyhood club.
He grew up at Waterloo in his youth alongside the likes of William Ghislain and Max van Oost. Together, they won national titles at Under-14 and 16 level before reaching the first team squad when still in their teens.
While the outfielders broke through, the teenage Vandenbroucke found opportunities limited by the presence of the awesome Vincent Vanasch and so had to look elsewhere to gain experience, first during a tough spell with Leuven and then in an uplifting time with Beerschot with whom he played in EHL in 2019.
“I really got back the enjoyment of hockey and the enjoyment of playing when I was there,” he told the EHL website. “But then the WatDucks called me as soon as Vincent told them that he was leaving for Rot Weiss.
“I did stay for a bit because I was having a good time at Beerschot but the heart soon spoke louder and I went back to my first love. It has been one of the best choices of my life, playing again with my friends in my home club; nothing can be better.”
“When I was young, really young, I went every Sunday to watch the first team play. I’m lucky enough to call some of those players I was watching as idols my friends like Maxime Luycx, Gautier Boccard, Benjamin Van Hove and so on.
“Since the beginning of my career, as soon as I started playing hockey, my dream was always to play for the first team of WatDucks so I’m kind of living my dream right now!”
And there is a strong feeling of commitment to homegrown talent in the camp these days is a key component in their run to back-to-back national championship finals.
Louis Depelsenaire is another on the rise while 18-year-old Charlie Langendries is already in the Red Lions panel announced after the Olympic Games. Overall, their wider panel has just one player over the age of 30.
Combining that element with smart additions in the lively Belgian transfer market is paying dividends.
“It’s a mix of the two. We had lost a bit of that culture for several years but I was lucky enough that my generation was promoted by the club. The culture changed a bit, bringing in some experienced players like this year with Victor Wegnez; the previous year, we had Blaise Rougeau or Eliot Curty who add “plus” value for the club.
“They can really help the youth players coming through and, step by step, they are becoming big players from the first team. It’s great to see.”
Vandenbroucke has also been included in that Red Lions setup while his club side are riding high after two rounds of matches in the Carlsberg 0.0 league, level at the top with Herakles and Braxgata with new additions Wegnez, Samuel Malherbe and Tomi Domene working their way into the panel.
The goalkeeper says they are still a work in progress but, all things considered, it has been an upbeat start to the new campaign.
“We do have to adjust little details to really find our game and to play the best way we can,” he told the EHL website.
“But, for the moment, it’s great. The new faces are awesome players and a real plus for the team. I think the other are also improving a lot, so everything is going great.”
Olympic and World Cup champion Wegnez is the obvious marquee name, adding huge dynamism to the spine of the team.
Domene, meanwhile, switched over after several years with Orée and offers a natural drag-flick replacement for Victor Charlet after the French star departed for his homeland.
Malherbe already has an EHL medal to his name from his time with Racing Club de Bruxelles and brings another lively presence to their frontline.
In two weeks’ time, Surbiton are the opponent.
“To be honest we don’t know a lot about them. We know they’ve got a strong side and it will be a huge game to play at their home.
“The EHL is something really special because it’s kind of the Champions League of the hockey. It’s a competition everybody wants to play and everybody wants to win. We are going to win for sure, but we know we need to do something special.
“Last year against Old Georgians, we played a real battle and it is always like that against English teams so it’s really something we are looking forward to!”
