‘I did shed a tear,’ said Nijmegen defender Sanne Vormeer. Sunday afternoon she got her second yellow card of the indoor season. That meant that she, the team’s top scorer and penalty corner specialist, was suspended for the decisive match against Laren. Despite her absence, Nijmegen promoted to the big league after all.
Sunday afternoon, Sportcampus Zuiderpark in The Hague. Nijmegen plays the last pool match, in which it must win against Laren to promote to the big league. But Nijmegen’s best player is missing. Vormeer is watching from the stands. She is not even allowed to sit on the bench.
Twice she enthusiastically jumps up and applauds for a Nijmegen goal. Laren does not score. One minute before time the spoils seem to be in and Vormeer descends from the stands. When the horn sounds and her team has won from Laren, she sprints onto the field to celebrate the promotion party. ‘This was terrible,’ she laughs. ‘Watching from the stands made me a thousand times more nervous than if I had had to play myself.’
From the stands, Sanne Vormeer (with the red socks) watches the playoff match against Laren. Photo: Rob Römer
I immediately thought: shit, now I’m suspended for the deciding match against Laren. Silly. Sanne Vormeer
Vormeer is one of Nijmegen’s key players. In recent weeks she cashed in penalty corner after penalty corner in the Topklasse, leading Nijmegen to the nacompetition. But this Sunday afternoon she went one step further. Suddenly she started scoring field goals as well. Thanks in part to her field goal, Nijmegen opened the match day with a 2-0 victory over Cartouche, marking the first important step toward promotion.
But then came the confrontation with Oranje-Rood. Early in the match Vormeer set up a block and received a yellow card. Her second of the season. She immediately realized what the consequence was. Vormeer: ‘I immediately thought: shit, now I’m suspended for the decisive match against Laren. Stupid. I shouldn’t have done it,’ she says. ‘Then I decided to give everything in this match. This was my last chance to contribute something.’
And it showed. When Nijmegen fell behind 4-1 against Oranje-Rood, the beast in her was unleashed. First she scored a field goal (4-2), then she netted a penalty corner (4-3). As a result, faith returned to the team. After her teammate Elena Colmer scored the equalizer (4-4), Vormeer scored another field goal (4-5). Still, Oranje-Rood equalized again (5-5), delaying the decision to the final game, which she therefore had to miss.
With three goals, Sanne Vormeer turned the deficit against Oranje-Rood around. Photo: Rob Römer
My teammates comforted me and they said, ‘We’re doing it for you too, we’re going to win for you.’ Sanne Vormeer
After the draw against Oranje-Rood, Vormeer’s emotions broke loose. ‘It was an intense moment. I was very disappointed that I was not allowed to play at the decisive moment,’ she said. ‘But it was also beautiful to see how my teammates supported me. They comforted me and they said, ‘We’re doing it for you too, we’re going to win for you.’ That’s really the beauty of this team: we do it together. Everyone was there for me. That gave me a lot of strength.
After the eventual win against Laren, Vormeer could smile again. ‘I look back on it with pride. It was a tremendous team performance. This season was tough, but we gave everything. The best part is that we remained undefeated all season. Great.
by Hockey.nl
