Janneke van de Venne (27) quit field hockey at Oranje-Rood last season. After many years of top field hockey she wanted to to put more time into her work and have fun with Den Bosch Ladies 2. But Saturday afternoon she suddenly found herself in the big league and gave the assist on the only goal against Amsterdam (2-1 defeat).
How this came about? Van de Venne lives in Den Bosch. For the past five seasons, she commuted from the Brabant capital back and forth to Eindhoven for training and matches. Until she decided to quit six months ago. She wanted to focus more on her job as a nurse. Because she still liked the game, she joined Den Bosch Ladies 2: the club within cycling distance, with friends and active in the Reserve big league.
With one or two training sessions a week – depending on enthusiasm – Van de Venne was happy with her choice. But when she got a call in the summer from Women’s 1 coach Marieke Dijkstra, it started itching again. Because who wouldn’t want to be part of perhaps the best club team in the world?
Frédérique Matla and Janneke van de Venne. Photo: Bart Scheulderman
From player list to assist
In August, she trained several times. The injury list in Den Bosch was long and when the internationals competed for the European title in Mönchengladbach, it was completely quiet on the field at the Oosterplas. The striker therefore played a number of practice matches as a forward.
“Then I thought: there’s a chance they might ask me again,” Janneke van de Venne responded shortly after the lost topper against Amsterdam (1-2). First, she was asked if they could put the striker on the player list. Of course that was no problem for Van de Venne. But that she would actually play? ‘And then right away in such a match. I really never expected that,” she says, just after her debut.
Van de Venne rotated quite a bit in the substitution scheme and even had a few chances right in front of Amsterdam’s goal. But her highlight must have been her part in the 1-1. She pounded with her backhand towards Anne Veenendaal, who had the greatest difficulty with the shot. Teuntje de Wit got the rebound in her stick and then did hit the ball. ‘That’s an assist then right?” she laughed. ‘I’m especially happy that I was able to handle it and keep up. I caused some threat. Didn’t expect to get so many minutes either.’
Photo: Bart Scheulderman
‘You just have to get up there anyway’
She is “already” 27. Has years of big league experience with MOP and Oranje-Rood. A past in Oranje U18 and has a Hockey 5 world title in her pocket. Still, that first real game at Den Bosch was exciting. Fifteen minutes before I left for the club, I felt the nerves. You just have to stand there all at once,’ she says. ‘I trained a lot less than I normally do. Then somewhere you’re afraid you won’t be able to do it again.’ But she also knows that’s nonsense. ‘They are happy that I can help them. I do what I can. And actually that’s when I enjoy playing field hockey the most. Nothing like being able to play freely.’
Van de Venne regularly popped up dangerously in the circle and took a few corners. It was hardly noticeable that she had been training less lately. Or that she is not officially part of the selection. Afterwards in her analysis she kept talking about ‘us’ and ‘we’. ‘I thought we were better, only we didn’t finish. For example, we got eleven corner kicks. But anyway, if you don’t score and the other does, apparently they are doing something better than us,’ she says somewhat sourly.
Photo: Bart Scheulderman
‘I used to play against Amsterdam, but then it was a completely different kind of opponent for us. Now it’s a real competitor and a top match.’ In the closing circle, she listened intently to Dijkstra. ‘I just got the message that steps forward have been made after all and that they can continue to build nicely.’ Laughing, she added, “Whether that’s with or without me, I have no idea.
From shifts at the hospital to double weekends
Last weekend, she happened to have time off. Because of her job, that’s not always the case. She runs shifts in different departments at the hospital and, instead, regularly jumps in to fill empty spaces. ‘I can’t suddenly change everything, but I can schedule my own shifts,’ she grins. But at the hospital, scheduling does go a little further ahead than a week. ‘I’m not very flexible, but this competition had been whispered to me a while ago. Whether I could take it into account a little bit. Whether there are any more jars of pencil in my calendar? Not yet. But I’m happy to do it.
Although she has taken a step back in her field hockey career, Van de Venne remains a true enthusiast. Less than twenty hours after the topper against Amsterdam, the next match was already scheduled: with Den Bosch Ladies 2 away against Helmond Ladies 2. As a teenager she last played a double weekend, but letting this match slip by was absolutely not an option. ‘We’re going to win that one anyway. We have a really good team,’ she says. ‘It’s going to be a spot in the top three no matter what.’
A day later, she lived up to her words. Den Bosch Ladies 2 won 5-1 over Helmond, with two goals coming off the rookie’s stick. Goal numbers six and seven in the Reserve big league.
by Hockey.nl
