With a professional soccer player as a father, Abbygail van Eck (14) took her first steps on the soccer field. But Jos van Eck (61, active in professional soccer for ten years) much preferred her to play field hockey. Sunday morning he was even more pleased with the choice. He proudly watched his daughter qualify with Victoria MO14-1 for the final day of the NK.
“Really? Did he sit quietly in the stands? Without shouting? I don’t believe that. Dad normally screams the lungs out of his body.’
Father Jos has to laugh when he hears his daughter. The bond between the two is ironclad. Everywhere Abbygail goes, Jos is there. Saturday night the two already drove to Eindhoven, where they booked a hotel room because of the early field hockey season. During the car ride, Abbygail was only on her phone. Not on Instagram or Snapchat, but in field hockey.nl’s Matchcenter. All the results of Sunday morning’s opponents were reviewed. Something her father does recognize. He himself is a walking Sparta encyclopedia, but above all he is her biggest supporter and cab driver. He drives his only daughter across the country if he has to.
Father Jos and daughter Abbygail van Eck. Photo: Rob Römer
And he does so with all his love. Because although soccer is in Jos’ heart, he has become a true lover of field hockey. ‘Hockey is a much more fun sport, especially for girls. It’s much faster. I love the changeover and the self-pass. And there is no whining and whining,’ says the former player of PEC, Sparta and FC Den Bosch. For ten years he played in professional soccer, but now he is on the field hockey field every week. ‘I even did my refereeing course. And train Ladies 1 once a week,’ he says. ‘Tactically I can do my bit. But not technically, mind you. I don’t have to tell them how to hold a stick. But I do have to tell them how to apply pressure and how to run free.’
The fact that he is active with the ladies one training session a week is not a problem for Abbygail. She saw her father on the soccer field training and coaching when she was tiny. But she doesn’t like the fact that he sometimes whistles her team as well. ‘He really whistles against everything then. So irritating. Jos has to laugh and kind of agrees with his daughter. ‘I test you, challenge you. You learn from that.’ Abbygail believes it. ‘You don’t have to do that, though,’ the adolescent says.
‘Now I want to win the NK too’
Sunday morning at the Indoor Sports Center in Eindhoven, Jos was perhaps the quietest in the stands. He saw his daughter win against Push (3-1), Alliance (6-1) and Deventer (10-1). The 14-year-old striker was important for the Rotterdammers with two goals and handfuls of assists.
‘Well I want to win the NK too,’ says the teenager. ‘It just has to work next week. Otherwise I won’t go to school the week after that,’ she stammered. Jos laughs, recognizing her fanaticism. ‘I would really give it to the team. And I’m tense too. It really is a very good team. But we’ll just go to school.’
Abbygail van Eck and her teammate Florence Jansen. Photo: Rob Römer
Abbygail not only hopes for her first-ever NK title, but yearns for much more. The teenager dreams of a field hockey career in the Orange. Her father hasn’t made it that far, but he encourages his daughter wholeheartedly. ‘I would wish her the same life I’ve had,’ he says. ‘I’ve always really enjoyed it. And then it wasn’t even about money to me. Playing in front of a lot of crowds and in beautiful stadiums is great.’
‘He played a cup final with fifty thousand people in the stands. Well, I’d like to experience that too,’ says Abbygail. To that end, she makes every effort. Her garden is teeming with field hockey balls, mats and gadgets. In her bedroom is her field hockey stick. Three times a week she trains with her Victoria, and on Sundays she once again gets into the car for field hockey school training sessions. ‘I’m working on my drag rush right now,’ she says. ‘I’m a big fan of Yibbi Jansen. I hope I can push just as well later.’
Jos van Eck in the stands. Photo: Rob Römer
‘In soccer stadiums things are very different’
‘When you’re about eighteen, we’ll see,’ her father responds. ‘I’ve seen often enough in soccer that hugely talented players didn’t make it. And that others emerged out of nowhere. If you give it your all and work very hard, you can achieve a lot,’ says Jos. He explains that his daughter also had a talent for soccer, but that he likes the field hockey world much better. ‘The difference with soccer is big. You can already see that here in the stands,’ he says. ‘It’s so much neater here. Parents behave themselves here. In soccer, there is often yelling with whatever disease. You never hear that here. We were watching the Dutch team the other day. Everyone there is cheerful and clapping along. In soccer stadiums things are really very different.
Fletiomare, Rotterdam, Klein Zwitserland and Victoria will battle it out next Saturday in The Hague to find out who is the best indoor team in the O14 category. ‘I’m glad that next week I don’t have any tryouts. Because all I can think about is the NK,’ says Abbygail. ‘Oh… I do have a test. For drawing. That sucks, because I’m not going to pay as much attention.’
Victoria MO14-1. Photo: Rob Römer
by Hockey.nl
