COLUMN HAS IT CHANGED MUCH? I am standing in my grey trousers in the meadow of my HC Bloemendaal, where as a young boy I searched for plover’s eggs and old hockey balls. Nowadays that meadow is the terrace of the ABN AMRO lounge. My hand is reaching for a bitterbal on the plate a charmingly smiling lady just placed under my nose. It was, and still is wonderful here. I am just trying to get away for a moment from the crowds and turn my back to the Orange hoopla that is called EHL. I couldn’t wish for a better spot. Getting away from the crowds and still so offside and who knows what else. So many new rules. The shoot-outs, the self pass. There has been an enormous increase in speed when the game is played. Video analysis, the materials used. In my time, in the European Cup, you only needed to win one serious game in order to reach the fi nals. We played heated games against the Scots, Russians and French. We were even able to play Gibraltar. They were rough guys, “punks” as my grandpa would have said. Cool dudes, today’s youth might think. They were allowed to play with the big boys The low backhand had yet to be born close to everything. Until I was startled by a fellow VIP. “Has it changed much?”, is his unsolicited question as he breaks the prevailing peace and quiet. I reply that the plovers are gone and the Nile and greylag geese have taken over the meadow. I fi nd this unfortunate, yes... His look tells me that I have missed the mark with my comments. “I meant the hockey”, he corrects me. What a dumb question I think to myself; of course hockey has changed a big deal. We had just been playing on artifi cial grass for a couple of years and the sport was still developing. The penalty corner, but that was secondary; the main thing was a weekend of drinking and smoking. The low backhand had yet to be born. Of course it was different. I turn my gaze away from the pond and the geese and see the club. European Cup 1988, a cloudless blue sky, the stands are full of Orange supporters. The Bloemendaal mascot dressed in a sparrow’s costume does his fi rst dance on the fi eld. Fireworks are set off. The huge 20x10 meter Bloemendaal fl ag fl ies over the stands. It’s a fantastic atmosphere. Mothers volunteer, baking fries, fl ipping burgers and sitting 23 FLORIS JAN BOVELANDER FORMER PLAYER FOR HC BLOEMENDAAL AND THE NETHERLANDS NATIONAL TEAM behind the token sales booth. The Board members in their nice suits are toasting with the European bobos. The players’ bus leaves just as things are getting interesting. Off to the hotel. We walk off with Cees Koppelaar. HTC Uhlenhorst is kept from sleeping all night long by trumpet blasts from a Bloomigan in front of their hotel. There is non-stop singing, scoring and cheering. Three days of celebrating and on the last day we lose on penalty shots... Then, there is crying, consolations and drinking. I can feel the frustrations of our defeat coming back to me. Those stupid penalties back then, the missed chances... But also the euphoric feeling of the temperature rising in the packed stands. I feel the passion, the enthusiasm and the combativeness of the team. I enjoy the win and even the defeat feels good all of a sudden. While the mothers of Jolie and De Nooijer are fl ipping hamburgers, from the corner of my eye I can see the boys of today’s Orange entering the stadium. I look at the man beside me. No, I say. Actually nothing, nothing at all has changed. • 20 07 20 12 FOTO: ANP PHOTO/REINDER WEIDIJK Pagina 22
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