Like a bolt from the blue. That’s how the news of the sudden death of their team father Ton Langenhuijsen came to the HGC men’s team at the end of November. A loss that came on top of an already particularly challenging year. After all, the new HGC was dangling in the lower reaches of the Promotion League. ‘My life was turned upside down,’ Langenhuijsen said.
‘He was hugely involved. Knew everybody. He took the boys to physio. Picked them up from Schiphol Airport. And also within the club he was praised for what he put up. On Wednesday morning we were still drinking coffee. In the evening he was supposed to give training at Barendrecht, which he did occasionally. He cancelled that. He wasn’t feeling well. Nothing for him. He went to bed, had a heart attack and didn’t wake up without anyone around.’
After the 1-5 lost catch-up game against Laren last Sunday, son and HGC captain Vincent Langenhuijsen recalled the moment when he lost his father totally unexpectedly. ‘That Friday we were to have a sponsor dinner that he had set up for our team trip to Pakistan this winter. In the house were still all the things he had arranged to auction, such as shirts of Sem van de Ven and Zack Wallace. Furthermore, the embassy in Pakistan would arrange and pay for everything, along with the Hockey Academy for which we gave many clinics. Then suddenly on Friday there was a crate next to all those items to be auctioned.’
Players from now and last year visited the Langenhuijsen family at home and were all present at the funeral. ‘They sympathized very actively. That involvement is of course fantastic. But to be honest, it partly passed me by as well. I lived in a kind of stupor. Hardly knew how to stay on my feet at all.’
Survival
From a field hockey perspective, the timing of the winter break could not have been better. Only the last game of 2024 against Laren, four days later, was obviously cancelled. ‘The first few months were survival. In January I spent a month traveling through the east side of America with my girlfriend. After that, for the first time, I felt like I was ready to play field hockey again.’
HGC captain Vincent Langenhuijsen has a leaden winter behind him. Photo: Rob Römer
And that’s just as well for HGC. Langenhuijsen is by far the most experienced player of the group. For seventy minutes every game he leads his team as a forward and makes one intervention after another. But even off the lines, the defender is the focal point of the team. After all, it was Langenhuijsen who was the only one who remained loyal to HGC after virtually disappearing from the budget and relegation from the big league last season. Together with his father, he made every effort to get a team going at all.
Celebrities in Pakistan
The leaden mission to maintain themselves in the Promotion League has not succeeded at all halfway through the season. The men are now eleventh with a five-point gap to number nine Almere. Yet there are also bright spots for the Wassenaar team. For example, the team made a special team trip to Pakistan in mid-February. A trip that had been on the planning for months and was thanks to Ton Langenhuijsen’s connections.
‘Since 2011 he went to Pakistan twice a year for his work in field hockey retail. He wanted to take me there once. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but still the trip was very special. From minute one we were treated like celebrities. There are few tourists there anyway, let alone white tourists playing field hockey. We were welcomed with garlands of flowers. Everyone wanted to take pictures with us and give hands. Our transportation was in a bulletproof bus. Not because it is so dangerous there, but to arrange everything for us as well as possible.’
In between visits to the embassy, a field hockey stick factory (‘with my father’s name on the door) and markets – captured with appropriate self-mockery via Instagram – the team also prepared field hockey for the second half of the season with a small tournament. ‘We played in a huge stadium, including against a team with players from Young Pakistan and the national team. Playing in front of packed stands was another special experience. It also went well: we won the tournament and took home a huge cup.
‘I can’t do it to my father to stop’
After all the duties, field hockey games and handshakes, Langenhuijsen came home tired but satisfied. ‘After a week, I was emotionally exhausted from all the things I saw, heard and experienced there. Everyone started talking about my father. Knew him. Praised him for what he set up in Pakistan. That was beautiful and intense.
The men have been back for over a week now. So this Sunday the match against Laren, called off in November, was on the schedule. ‘Because it has been a few months now, it was not a more fraught match than usual. I especially hoped that we could continue the positive line and the winning mood of Pakistan. But unfortunately. They have more quality, higher handling speed and stronger shots. We tried to create a bit of chaos, but it didn’t work out enough.
Langenhuijsen looks for his mother after the lost match against Laren. Photo: Rob Römer
Langenhuijsen did not look sad. ‘I’m happy for a long time that I’ve got everything sorted out. I’ve started work again. Am sharp on the field again. And the atmosphere in the group is incredibly good. Six months ago you wouldn’t hear anyone during training. Now the guys are unstoppable with each other. We know we are not as good hockey-wise, but we work very hard. Then, as captain, you can only be satisfied with the leads that that provides.’
Despite all the emotions, Langenhuijsen has not thought for a second in recent months about quitting. ‘The boys and the club deserve me being here. That was the idea in the summer. If I stop, everything might fall over. I can’t do it to my father either. Anyway, he is watching from above. I miss the positivity he gave me, but I’m sure he would have wanted me to continue this process at HGC. With or without him: the mission remains to stay in the Promotion League.’
HGC – Laren 1-5 (1-4)
5. Teun van Uunen (sc) 0-1
6. Jordi Schramel 0-2
14. Maurits Schut 1-2
25. Jordi Schramel 1-3
30. Teun van Uunen (sc) 1-4
68. Teun van Uunen (sc) 1-5
by Hockey.nl
