Kampong women still had a slim chance of avoiding direct relegation from the big league during the last weekend of the regular indoor competition, but that went up in smoke. A 2-3 defeat against Amsterdam put a big line under a years stay at the highest level. The fact that Kampong was equal to its opponents in almost all games hurts even more. ‘We have never been the underdog.’
When the KNHB official’s horn marked the end of the game between Kampong and Amsterdam Saturday morning at noon, Veere ter Horst’s stick ended with a bang against the bar. While her teammates processed their disappointment with relative resignation, the 18-year-old defender was one of the few to give her frustration plenty of space for a moment.
‘What I felt at that moment?’ she echoes the question back when we speak to her an hour later in the catacombs of Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague. ‘I find it hard to put that into words. I was just very disappointed. Not necessarily in my team, because I always look at myself first. What could I have done differently? What should I have done differently?
Disappointment for Guusje Moes and Veere ter Horsrt after their relegation from the Dutch big league. Photo: Willem Vernes
Kampong went down 0-2 early in the all-or-nothing match with Amsterdam, which was still fighting for participation in the play-offs, but fought their way back into the game. This was due in part to goalkeeper Alexandra Heerbaart, who played a starring role with a series of saves and kept her team on their feet. Despite a 1-2 from Mea de Vries and a late 2-3 from Guusje Moes, the team remained empty-handed. The loss against Amsterdam was the seventh defeat of the season, and the fourth by only one goal difference.
Loose shots
As in almost all previous games of this indoor competition, coach Jeroen Schoenmakers’ formation was able to match Amsterdam in terms of play between the bars, but lacked sharpness and decisiveness in goal production. Kampong had enough weapons to hurt opponents, but used blanks as ammunition. In addition, the team had an extra handicap because penalty corner specialist Sofie Stomps was missing the last four games due to a study trip to Spitsbergen.
Disappointment for Kampong goalkeeper Alexandra Heerbaart. Photo: Willem Vernes
‘We were never actually the underdog this season,’ reflects Ter Horst, the youngest player on the team along with Livia van Dijck. ‘We really weren’t worse than the other teams. Each time it came down to us not scoring enough goals in the end zone. That’s not a reproach to our strikers. It has more to do with the team dynamics that we didn’t quite get a grip on. The fact that we were very close to a good result each time does, fortunately, give a different feeling than if we would have stepped off the field with a big defeat one after the other. But it does make the relegation extra painful as a result.’
Big heart
There were no big tears or inconsolable players Saturday afternoon at Kampong. At least, as far as that was visible outside the safe doors of the locker room. A few years ago Ter Horst might have been in sackcloth and ashes for minutes and felt that her field hockey world had collapsed. That she had let everything and everyone down. But the young defender, equipped with a great sense of responsibility for her own role on the team, has developed spectacularly in this.
Ter Horst works the ball away from Kampong’s defense. Photo: Willem Vernes
‘I have a big heart for the team, the club and the sport,’ Ter Horst said. ‘I have often thought I disappointed people when I made a mistake or when we didn’t do well as a team. That’s how I am in the game. But making mistakes and failing is part of it. I’m learning to deal with that better and better. I ask myself now: what just happened? And what am I going to do with what I just experienced? I take steps from there. In a process in which you want to keep growing as a team, then these experiences are desperately needed, no matter how painful.’
Kampong ended the day with a welcome 5-2 win over Pinoké. That did not change the final score, but gave the team spirit in Schoenmakers’ very young squad a boost. Ter Horst: ‘That was a game for the good feeling, a game where fun was paramount. And we wanted to encourage Carlijn Tukkers (see box below). That she of all people suffered an injury against Amsterdam was very painful for us. She is an enormous pillar of support for the team and has a great passion for the game. We also won for her.
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by Hockey.nl
