2025 will be a defining year for Alkemade. Although the field hockey club will not move from Rijpwetering to Roelofarendsveen until 2026, the merger with soccer club EMM’21 is already planned for next summer. This means that after 43 years the name HC Alkemade will disappear. The field hockey club will continue as EMM’21 next season.
A practical matter often used as a joke to illustrate the cultural aspect of the merger is, what beer will be on tap at the merger club. Whereas EMM’21 soccer club serves both Heineken and Amstel, Alkemade pours Hertog Jan. “Will our beer also be on tap? It is one of the field hockey club’s questions to be answered in the coming months.
The merger is part of redevelopment of the Sportpad, the sports complex in Roelofarendsveen. The reason for that redevelopment was Alkemade’s desire to move to the South Holland village. The club had been struggling in recent years with declining membership and limited recruitment from surrounding villages. ‘Ten years ago Alkemade was in dire straits,’ says chairman Lynn van der Hoorn of ‘that little club among the cows’ as Alkemade is affectionately called by visiting clubs. ‘We are also in the smallest village center in the municipality of Kaag and Braasem. The youth have to be brought by parents or bike themselves 25 to 30 minutes on a remote road.’
In short, something had to be done to prevent the club from ceasing to exist. Merging with another field hockey club was out of the question. After all, Alkemade is the only field hockey club within the municipal boundaries. The municipality therefore recommended talking to EMM’21 soccer club, because there were plans to renovate the sports complex – just over five kilometers from Alkemade’s accommodation – in Roelofarendsveen.
HC Alkemade in Rijpwetering. Photo: HC Alkemade
Merger on July 1, 2025
Talks between the clubs went so well that it was decided, with the support of the majority of members, to continue as one club. The merger is to be ratified on July 1, 2025. ‘There is a great challenge to bring the soccer and field hockey cultures together,’ says Van der Hoorn. ‘Alkemade is a special club. Half the members have keys to the clubhouse. We have a culture of us knows us and we arrange everything together. We are a club of the members. The latter is also already in the current EMM’21. But we will have to work hard to keep it that way.
The merger guidance committee must ensure a smooth transition. Working groups have also been set up, each with its own spearhead such as organization and sponsorship. Van der Hoorn, who has taken a seat in the working group on organization: ‘We want people from both the field hockey and soccer teams to be represented on the board and committees. We are therefore now surveying our members to see who is available.’
With the merger, the name Alkemade will disappear. The club, founded in 1981, was named after the then municipality of Alkemade, which consisted of Roelofarendsveen and the surrounding villages. Starting next season, the field hockey club will stand at the exit as EMM’21. The black and white jersey will also be exchanged for red and burgundy, the colors of EMM’21. “The tenue will have a field hockey variant.
After the merger, construction of the field hockey field is the next item on the agenda. ‘We are looking at whether we will go for a water field or a waterless field,’ says Van der Hoorn. Once that decision is made, the tendering process will begin. In Roelofarendsveen, Alkemade will have one field and an infield at its disposal. ‘We have just reached two hundred members and according to the KNHB guidelines we can accommodate up to four hundred members on one pitch.’ Construction of a new locker and club building is also underway. ‘That’s what we call it because in soccer they don’t talk about a clubhouse but a canteen.’
Lynn van der Hoorn became president of HC Alkemade in November 2024. Photo: Instagram hockeyclub_alkemade
The move in 2026
According to schedule, the ball should then start rolling at the new location in September 2026. It means Alkemade will then bid a final farewell to Rijpwetering after more than forty years. ‘In Roelofarendsveen we will be a little further away from the cows,’ says Van der Hoorn with a wink. ‘The young people are looking forward to the move. They are generally less attached to the culture of Alkemade than the seniors who grew up with it.’ At the new location, the club hopes to have a wider range and thus attract more members. Moreover, most members will not have to travel as far, since they come from Roelofarendsveen anyway.
Van der Hoorn notices that the upcoming move is already causing membership to grow. ‘Especially in the youth. In recent years we’ve noticed that we get two more teams during the season because siblings who come along also like field hockey. We hope that through the merger the growth of the youngest youth will continue. The emphasis is on recruiting youth members, but of course the door is always open for seniors.’
These are busy times for Van der Hoorn and her fellow club members. After a short Christmas recess, duties have now picked up again. Last Monday was already the first board meeting of 2025 and this week they are discussing the newly formed board of the merger club. ‘The daily ins and outs of the field hockey club combined with the merger takes a lot of time. On the one hand it can’t go fast enough for me, but on the other hand everything has to be taken care of.’
The new location in Roelofarendsveen. Photo: Facebook Alkemade
by Hockey.nl
