From Thursday through Sunday to Sicily. At least, that was the intention for the ladies from Zoetermeer. The team finally set foot on Dutch soil again on Tuesday night, more than a day and a half later. The culprit: the erupting volcano Etna.
As the team looked down from the plane on Thursday, one thing stood out just before landing. Bright red and orange lava could be seen near the volcano Etna. Striking, but soon forgotten. In Catania – Sicily’s second largest city – no one was talking about a possible eruption anymore. No one talked about Etna anymore during the four-day team trip.
Because attention went to quite a few hours of training, exploring the nightlife, a pasta course and some games of padel. Until the team packed their gear again Sunday afternoon and waited in the lobby for the bus to take them to the airport. Then the lava from a few days earlier turned out to be a problem after all.
“A couple who were also staying at our hotel told us that all the flights had been canceled,” Manouk de Rover recounted. The central defender got a little suspicious, but remained calm. ‘After all, we had not yet received a message from Transavia.’
The start of the team trip. Photo: Instagram Zoetermeer D1
Finding an overnight stay for a group of twenty people
As the team boarded the bus to the airport, the driver was able to turn around almost immediately. The couple from the hotel was right. Their flight had also been cancelled. ‘Then everyone was in a panic,’ says De Rover. Especially when it turned out that the hotel no longer had room for them. And finding overnight accommodation for a group of twenty people is no easy task. In the end we were able to stay in our hotel,” says the defender. As a result, the initial fear was over.
But De Rover was still stressed. She had brought a laptop over the weekend because she had an exam Wednesday morning. In fact, she is busy specializing in ICU nursing. ‘I immediately contacted the program to see if it could possibly be done online. If they would please make an exception for me.’ Because the next flight offered by Transavia was not until Thursday.
The team did not leave it at that. Sunday night the team searched en masse for solutions. ‘We looked at whether we could fly via Palermo, which was about 2.5 hours away. Have even looked if we could take a boat to Malta, to catch a flight there,’ she says. But nothing worked out. ‘We couldn’t go anywhere. Moreover, almost all the sites were down, or working badly. The search caused a lot of frustration.’ In addition, the selection had only packed for four days. ‘Some had prepared well, but others had not. A few teammates had to buy clothes. Others went to the laundromat.’
Internships, a presentation and Curaçao
The next morning, the team met again. With renewed courage they looked for a solution, to be back in Holland as soon as possible. Because not only De Rover had important plans, more players were in a hurry. ‘For example, our goalkeeper flew to Curaçao on Wednesday. And two girls had just started their internships. Are you immediately not there, in your first week. But more players had obligations at school. One of our players had to give a presentation on Monday.’
Photo: Instagram Zoetermeer D1
In the end, we managed to come to a solution on Monday. Via KLM, the team was able to travel home in two groups. One flight had a short stopover in Barcelona and would finally arrive at Schiphol Airport at nine o’clock in the evening. The other flight was less in demand, stopping in between in Milan (a four-hour stop) and eventually landing in Amsterdam only around noon.
The failed priority list
‘We decided to make a priority list with the team. Whoever was in the most hurry got to go on the first flight,’ De Rover recounted the idea. She herself was also high on the list. A good system, but the execution went awry. While entering our names on the site, we couldn’t click through. Which meant that the people without a hurry were in the fast lane. We could have added that too.’
Finally, De Rover was home around one o’clock at night. After a short night, it was time for school. The extended Sicily trip had no consequences. The trip was one to remember and De Rover scored an 8.2 for the exam.
by Hockey.nl
