Netherlands:

For one player, the playoffs between the SCHC and Schaerweijde men’s hockey teams are very special. Tijs van Horn (20) played field hockey his whole life at Stichtsche. Until this season. Whereas last year he promoted to the big league with SCHC via play-outs, he will try to repeat that trick this weekend with his new club Schaerweijde. After Saturday afternoon’s 2-2 draw, that is certainly still possible.

‘I do get on nicely when the crowd is against me,’ Van Horn laughed with sweaty face just after the draw. ‘Then I play better. In that respect, I had hoped for more shouting and whistling. Only the guys from SCHC Under 18-1 that I coached last year, I occasionally heard Overloper! ‘

The defender chuckles. ‘They did that with a wink, of course. Other than that, it was especially fun to play against SCHC. I was looking forward to it all week. Of course I know the club and the team like the back of my hand. I am still friends with a number of players from Heren 1, such as Roger Figa, Casper Hafkamp and Lars van Dommelen. Know how incredibly fit they are and that they are tactically sound. And of course they have a year of major league experience in the bag. That only increases the challenge for us.

Tijs van Horn (right) took on his old love SCHC on Saturday afternoon. Photo: Bart Scheulderman

So without rancor, Van Horn stepped onto the field Saturday afternoon. ‘I wanted to do things with my life that did not fit into the overall picture Jeroen Groenheijde (coach of SCHC) had in mind in the big league. Becoming a member of a student union. I had to make a choice. Fortunately, I was very well taken care of at Schaerweijde. Even though SCHC will always be my club, I enjoy Zeist immensely.’

Resilience

SCHC striker Figa walks by. The men exchange fat smiles. ‘We did do some texting back and forth this week. Mostly to wish each other good luck.’

The mutual good luck wishes were no luxury for either team. SCHC got off to a fiery start and ruthlessly popped the first penalty corner through Hafkamp. A monster score lay in wait. At least on the face of it. Van Horn: ‘That quick goal was of course something to swallow. But if you see how we handled it afterwards, then I am proud of that. We showed that we are not inferior to SCHC, despite being used to opponents like Amsterdam, Kampong and Den Bosch’.

After the equalizer and another lead for the home team, Schaerweijde indeed showed resilience again in the second half. The 2-2 final score was justified given the pattern of play, although with six missed penalty corners the Zeister men could even have put themselves in a more favorable position for Sunday’s deciding match.

Schaerweijde did not let themselves get off balance against SCHC. Photo: Bart Scheulderman

Promotion twice in a row?

‘All year we have been struggling with the corner. And then when you’re up against guys who have run out corners from Jip Janssen and Boris Burkhardt this season, it’s also not surprising that with an 18-year-old Lucas Corstens at head of the circle we don’t hit it right away,’ Van Horn is realistic. ‘But we particularly wanted to use this match to at least still be in the race tomorrow. At least we succeeded in that.’

As the only one of the two teams, Van Horn can win promotion for the second time in a row Sunday afternoon. He is already rubbing his hands at the idea. ‘We’re all going to my parents’ house in a minute for a pasta. They live around the corner. And then relax with our legs up, watch some TV and get a good night’s sleep. And tomorrow we go full steam ahead for that promotion. Even though this is the last game for many players and staff members, we are not here to play a practice game. We just want to beat those guys and get promoted to the big league. You bet we’re going to show that at home.’