He was one of five Dutchmen who shone in the Hockey India League in recent weeks. Floris Wortelboer came, saw and enjoyed at UP Rudras. The international returned not only with a particularly nice pouch, but also with a bulk of stories and memories. ‘I really came to love India,’ he said.
‘I heard stories that are unimaginable for a Dutchman. Look, for us field hockey is a game. An important hobby, with which we can earn money at the top. But for Indian boys, sport has another meaning. For them it is a way to escape poverty. To give themselves and their families a better future. For them, being on a national team is vital. Not only does that provide something great athletically, but it often gets them a job with a public company.
It is a week after Wortelboer set foot on Dutch soil again. For a month and a half, he stayed in Rourkela. A hockey-mad Indian industrial city, where the Bloemendaler played for Rudras that was financed by a large industrial company. He was not the only Dutchman there. Paul van Ass and Thomas Tichelman were the coaches of the team, in which fellow international Lars Balk also played.
Rock-paper-scissors
‘I am very happy to have had this special experience,’ said Wortelboer, who went under the hammer for 27 Indian lakhs (converted to 29,000 euros) last fall. ‘It sounds mega cliché, but this has really enriched me. And no, I don’t mean the amount I was auctioned for. I enjoyed it immensely. Didn’t quite know what to expect, although of course I had heard some stories beforehand about previous editions. The format this year was different than before. That didn’t make it any less special for me.’
Unlike previous editions, the competition was now almost exclusively played in Rourkela. ‘Playing field hockey in India and walking the streets is a story in itself. It’s intense and chaotic. I’ve been to India a few times with the Dutch national team. But then you don’t immerse yourself in a culture as much as now. At Rudras I was in a team with sixteen Indians. I found that fascinating. So field hockey there is much more than sport. At some point we are selected for a national youth team. From there you can make it to Orange. But those guys often leave home at age eleven. Then they go to a field hockey school, for example, sometimes far away from their parents. They leave everything behind to chase their dream.’
The hierarchy also sometimes worked completely differently. ‘Look, I slept in the room with Lars. We both had in our own beds. Rock-paper-scissors and the division was made. Two Indians from our team also shared a room. But the youngest – and least experienced player – slept there on the floor. Out of respect for the older boy. No one thought that was crazy. It wasn’t pathetic. It was the norm. Totally different from us. I find that mega fascinating.
UP Rudras’ team hairdresser in action. Photo: Floris Wortelboer
The driver without a license and the Indian sleeper train
After Balk (40 lakhs) and New Zealander Kane Russell (30 lakhs), Wortelboer was the most expensive foreign player for Rudras, which eventually finished fifth in the league. His teammates knew all too well that they had brought in an international superstar. ‘Before the first training session, a young Indian player came to me. Whether I wanted to teach him how to hit a backhand. Well, at Bloemendaal I never got that question. By the way, he could hit quite a nice backhand, so I couldn’t give that many tips, haha.’
Wortelboer sometimes fell from one surprise into another. For example, he sat in a cab driven by a teammate who turned out not to have a driver’s license. ‘But he drove just fine.’ And he regularly went to the hairdresser’s with his teammates. ‘But as is often the case in India, that barber just did his work on the street. There just stood, close to the traffic, a chair on the street. By Western standards, of course, that is abnormal. For us, that was an experience. Russell then went to that barber every week. Cost only one euro, too.’
With his England teammate Sam Ward in the locker room. Photo: Instagram Sam Ward
The only game Rudras played outside of Rourkela was in Ranchi, ‘A half-day trip. Going there we took cabs, which was already crazy in Indian traffic. Back on the train was entirely an experience. We traveled in a sleeper train, six of us sleeping in a cabin. Occasionally the train stopped because people were walking on the tracks. Seems to happen more often, too. Because we were delayed, we visited the home of an Indian boy. Also very special to experience.’
Long story short: ‘I have really come to love India. It was wonderful that it was possible to do this this year. Out of your comfort zone. In another team, in a completely different country. I can recommend it to everyone to experience this one day.’
by Hockey.nl
