Everything went smoothly for Emma Reijnen (21). She conquered titles with Den Bosch, made her debut in the national team and scored her first international goal. But last Monday fate struck. During training with the Dutch team, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament. She will be out of action for eight to 12 months. ‘I immediately had to think of Laura Nunnink,’ she said.
‘I felt something snap. I thought: no way. Scared the hell out of me. All scenarios shot through my head.’ These are the first words of Emma Reijnen, still full of disbelief. It has now been eight days since things went completely wrong for her.
The talented midfielder now has nine caps behind her name. She was determined to increase that number even more in the time to come, but early last week her world momentarily collapsed. A greater tragedy could not have happened; in the prime of her career, the blow hit rock hard. ‘We were doing an exercise towards goal at training with the Orange,’ the 21-year-old unlucky player began to recount. ‘Something we do so often. But now I collided unhappily with the goalkeeper and felt my knee make a strange movement. I had no idea what happened to me.’
Emma Reijnen. Photo: WorldSportPics
The first tears
‘I was in a lot of pain when it happened, but that subsided fairly quickly,’ she continues to recount. ‘I do go through my ankle sometimes, and that pulls away. So I was still hoping it would be something like that,’ she looks back. The physio of the Dutch team did the first tests immediately after the incident, which were somewhat suspicious. There was nothing wrong with her ligaments, but her cruciate ligament gave way too much. In the shower, Reijnen noticed that she sagged through her knee. ‘I thought that was weird. I was so sad. Then I knew for sure it was wrong.’
Team doctor Conny van Bentum immediately called the hospital and arranged for an MRI scan. Two hours later it was clear that it was indeed wrong. ‘The doctor at the hospital showed me the images. It could be seen exactly that my anterior cruciate ligament was torn. I think it’s really terrible. I have no damage to my meniscus, that was the only positive.’
‘I’ve never had an injury before. And then now bam, maybe just 12 months out.
A minuscule bright spot, because really, the timing couldn’t have been worse. Reijnen was having a rock-solid field hockey year. Her career was gaining momentum after she grabbed the European title with the Dutch Junior Team as captain last summer – after becoming world champion in December. In November she joined the training group of the Dutch team and a month later she sang the national anthem at her debut in Argentina.
No European Championship but on crutches in Spain
Since then, Reijnen has alternated in the midfield of Raoul Ehren, the national coach who had her debut years earlier with Den Bosch, when the Brabander was still club coach. Reijnen not only played in the Pro League in South America, but later joined the team in India, where she scored her first goal. After winning the EHL and the national title with Den Bosch, she played her first caps on Dutch soil. Four times she played for the Dutch national team in Wagener Stadium. In the summer the next highlight could have just come: the European Championship.
Photo: Willem Vernes
The Brabant native tells her story from Spain. She is on vacation with three friends. Although she had imagined the trip differently – she walks on crutches – she is happy with the distraction. Her friends lugged her suitcases and helped her onto the plane. “I’m glad I went. I’m a little more mobile than I was a few days ago, but literally everything takes energy. But I’d rather be here by the pool, than by myself on the couch.’
Just trying to take her mind off things, after that hellish week. ‘I think it all still needs to land a bit,’ Reijnen says honestly. The phone conversation doesn’t last long, or it’s about Lau. Laura Nunnink, her Den Bosch teammate, with whom things went so wrong a month ago. ‘I was in shock when it happened to me. Had to think of her immediately. I quickly sent her a message. We have a lot of contact. We have each other, but I would have preferred it to be different.’
‘I’ve never had an injury before’
The news hit like a bomb. How could it happen? ‘I’ve never had an injury before,’ she says. ‘And then now bam, maybe just 12 months out. I really never expected that.’ She temporarily moved in with her parents in Den Bosch. On her own in Amsterdam – where she lives and studies – she can’t make it now. ‘They do everything for me, I’m very happy with that. They took me back and forth to the university one day after it happened. I had practice, which required me to be at school in the morning. They also take me to physio every time. They help me continuously. In two weeks I will have surgery. Then you can’t do anything for a while. Only when I am more mobile again will I go back.
Emma Reijnen won the national title with Den Bosch in May. In the final she was the ‘woman of the match’. Photo: Willem Vernes
She tries to see the positive. Because she knows better than anyone that nothing can be changed now anyway. With a smile she starts talking about the European Championship: ‘It was not certain that I would play that tournament. I only had a chance. Well, that chance is gone now,’ she says with a good dose of humor. ‘Above all, I want to come back strong. To really stand there again. Full of confidence. I think that’s the most important thing.’
When she returns from Spain and has had surgery, her rehabilitation will really start. She hopes to resume her life bit by bit as soon as her studies begin again – Reijnen is studying Dentistry. ‘I hope to start finishing my Bachelor’s degree,’ she says ambitiously. ‘They say you can do your daily things again pretty soon after surgery. I hope the same will be true with me. I’m already done with those crutches,’ she laughs.
‘I guess I still don’t fully realize it. Twelve months is such a tremendously long time. I had hoped it would never have happened, but I have to deal with it. And hopefully this will be my first, but more importantly my last injury ever.
In Spain, Emma Reijnen is carefully trying to recharge herself for what is to come. Her friends are literally and figuratively helping her move forward. ‘I think I still don’t fully realize it,’ she says. ‘Twelve months is such a tremendously long time. I had hoped it would never have happened, but I have to deal with it. And hopefully this will be my first, but more importantly my last injury ever.’
by Hockey.nl
