It was an extraordinary, almost comical sight. After the end of the Orange Ladies game against Belgium (2-2), the Orange Men were honored as winners of the Pro League. The speaker announced the champions. An applause sounded in the Antwerp sports complex Wilrijkse Plein. And there they arrived. All four … coach Jeroen Delmée, video man Joep van Nuland, defender Timo Boers and striker Koen Bijen.
The foursome could see the fun in it. Solemnly they accepted the cup – behind the Champions sign – from FIH director Marcos Hofmann and showed it to the public. Willingly they also allowed themselves to be photographed. Those pictures will go into the team’s group app,” Bijen beamed after the special ceremony. Those pictures will probably be opened all over the world and provided with the necessary commentary by the players of Orange, who were missing en masse because they are now enjoying a well-deserved vacation after a grueling season.
‘I have already been on vacation once and will fly to Ibiza on Thursday,’ Bijen said of his upcoming trip to the ‘soccer island’ in the Mediterranean. ‘It’s also a place where a lot of field hockey players go these days.’ Bijen smiles tellingly at the thought of his vacation. But this Sunday he was just at home and so he immediately raised his finger when asked who wanted to receive the Pro League cup in Antwerp. ‘If you win a cup, you have to collect it,’ he believes.
Deservedly won
Words to the same effect are spoken by his coach Jeroen Delmée, who two weeks ago, without playing, saw that the 35 points he and his team scored were enough to win the prestigious Nations League. ‘It’s quite special that you sit at home on the bench watching and waiting for one of the competitors to make a mistake,’ Delmée says.
‘But in the end, it doesn’t matter how you win it. It’s just not easy to win the Pro League and we’ve done it three times now in the last four years. When you see how big the competition is among the men, we just did really well. We forced ourselves to be honored here today. The fact that there are four of us is pretty special. But when you win that cup, you also have to pick it up.’
Joep van Nuland, Timo Boers, Koen Bijen and Jeroen Delmee display the Pro League Cup. Photo: Bart Scheulderman (Worldsportpics)
Although that pickup is more of a figure of speech, because after the dutiful photos were taken, someone from the organization came to claim the cup. That was because a few minutes later it was to be awarded to the Orange Ladies, who earlier also had to read from a screen that they were winners of the Pro League. Because they still had a double with Belgium, they were at least with a full selection this Sunday in sun-drenched Antwerp when captain Pien Sanders showed the cup to the now almost empty stadium. She didn’t mind, because for the ladies only one thing mattered after the match: pack up and go.
Paddling on Ibiza
The plane beckons for all internationals trying to get fresh in head and limbs in the coming weeks, before the preparation towards the European Championship starts this summer in Mönchengladbach. Since the Orange Men already finished the Pro League almost two weeks ago, they have already been able to enjoy the necessary rest. Bijen: “Especially after the Games we just kept going. You live a bit in a daze, going from field to field. Now we have a very short time off, which is nice to get fresh.’
It’s just not easy to win the Pro League and we’ve done it three times now in the last four years of Orange coach Jeroen Delmée.
But doing nothing at all is not in the cards for Bijen. I’m not very good at sitting still. And I also think: if I do nothing now, I’ll have to start all over again later. So I keep paddling a bit, playing tennis, golf and I do my schedules. I’m an athlete after all, so I keep moving. Later on in Ibiza I’m going to do nothing at all for a while, just chill. But I think there’s probably a paddle court there, too.’
Delmée is not going on vacation. He is staying in Brabant. ‘I’ve been away from home so much that I love being home for a while and being able to mess around a bit. But the switch goes off. For me, it’s vacation when I’m not being lived by a field hockey schedule.’
by Hockey.nl
