A wooden medal. That’s what captain Boukje Vermeulen and her teammates received in late May after winning the European Championship final with the Dutch women 50+. “I’m sure that was meant to be durable,” she says with a wink, “but it was a little disappointing. Fortunately, what counts is the result: gold. In the final, England was defeated 2-1.
It was Vermeulen’s seventh participation in a Masters tournament. Six times she won gold, once silver. And no, you don’t get used to that. ‘As soon as you stand there, you only want one thing: to win. That old fanaticism just comes back to the surface.’
In Valencia, the team played six matches in ten days, in temperatures well above 30 degrees. Not everyone liked it right away. ‘After the first match we thought: how on earth are we going to keep this up? We had trained together several times, but there were no set patterns. And because we didn’t play at the same level, sometimes we didn’t think the same way. But in such a tournament you grow closer to each other.
The ‘golden’ women Masters 50+
No protein bars
Preparation for the tournament began as early as September. Training sessions were arranged, open sessions announced via Instagram and players snared from their own network. ‘Sometimes you have to disappoint people. Sometimes you are already happy that everyone is fit. But eventually there was a team. And then once the tournament started, the fanaticism in everyone came out. We all want to win and cross boundaries, even as a group. The best must play, or the best combinations. For some it is a disappointment if they play less as a result. Then conversations come up about that.’
So the tournament was tough, but also relaxed. The team stayed in apartments near the sea, arranged by the team itself. In between they worked, swam or visited the city. It’s not a camp trip, but it’s not a top sport either. We know from experience when you should or shouldn’t drink wine, but we don’t go on protein bars and energy gels. We organized an orange drink in the middle of the week. Because our team was closest to the beach, the other two teams from the Netherlands (men 45+ and 50+) joined us. Very cozy. That way we also got to know each other better. That made it extra fun to cheer each other on the following days.’
The latter was badly needed at the end of the tournament. The Dutch women fell behind 0-1 early in the final. Only in the fourth quarter did the game turn around. It became 2-1, after which a hectic final phase followed: ‘We got a couple of questionable penalty corners in the final seconds. When the whistle blew, there was mostly relief. We had done it again.
The same went for the men 50+, who won the gold against England via shoot-outs. The men 45+ came to bronze. From the organization little was arranged, but after dinner we went with the three teams to a beach club. There we had a nice party together. But not too crazy. The next day we were on the plane at six in the morning. A few hours later I already had my first work meeting’.
The orange men Masters 50+ also celebrated because of their first place after shoot-outs.
Like mother, like sons
On Sunday, Vermeulen, a former major league player with Rotterdam, still plays in the 30+ at her old club. She is 55, her opponents often twenty years younger. ‘Then, of course, I get passed by all the young deer. At the 50+ I feel I can still do something and I also get to be back at my familiar post, as center-mid, instead of a line behind.’
At home, they followed the tournament at an appropriate distance. Vermeulen’s sons and Rotterdam players Pepijn and Timme van der Heijden occasionally sent an app. ‘At least they weren’t in a home app group with 380 people in which I gave a before-and-after review every day,’ she jokes. ‘But they did bravely ask how it went. And especially: how does the washing machine work again?
by Hockey.nl
