Netherlands: Celebration Berkel Gets Sour Edge: ‘Grabbed Unnecessary Cards’

The men from Berkel en Rodenrijs played their first ever home game in the Promotion League on Sunday. The club is experiencing a dream year in their anniversary year, but is also tempering expectations for the coming years. The culture is more important at the South Hollanders than performance. They did everything they could to turn the first home game into a big party, however, opponent Ring Pass threw a spanner in the works by winning 4-3.

Berkel en Rodenrijs had done everything possible last Sunday to attract as many people as possible to sport park Het Hoge Land. There were flyers with the names and heads of all players of Ladies 1 and Men 1, a DJ provided the atmosphere all afternoon and after the men’s game even a saxophonist performed. The club had reason enough to party: this season Men’s 1 will play in the Promotion League for the first time and the first home match was the moment to celebrate.

Board member Sjors Driegen visibly enjoyed the ambiance. ‘It may not be as special as honoring the championship during the anniversary celebration, but it is still wonderful that we are now competing in the Promotion Class.’ Last year the men surprised by taking the title in the Transitional Class which resulted in promotion to the second level. The fact that the club was exactly fifty years old at the time made it extra special. ‘We’re probably not going to top that, but this is another great milestone for our family club.’

The bond between Heren 1 and the club

That Berkel en Rodenrijs is a club with a lot of connection is proven by the first team. ‘There are currently ten players in Heren 1 who coach or have coached with a junior team,’ Stefan van der Ree, coach and former player of the first team, told me. ‘We would like that too, because that’s how you keep the bond between club and player strong. It is important for us to have a stable base, because that is the only way we can continue to perform as a club.’

Berkel would like to preserve that culture. But captain Teun Mooldijk mainly thinks about the short term. ‘I want to keep playing field hockey at the highest possible level at all costs. We’ve come here now and we’re going to do everything we can to stay in it.’

Coach Stefan van der Ree (left) during the game. Photo: Frank van der Leer

Wrong choices and unnecessary cards

Berkel could have taken the right step towards a good season ending Sunday against Ring Pass. A game that started as you expect from a game between two newly promoted teams: full of energy, but with the necessary sloppiness. The game went all ways. After eleven minutes it was already 1-1. The decision came after halftime, when Ring Pass ran out to 2-4 through goals by Remko Saraber and Mattijn Triezenberg. That made the third goal by Mooldijk and van Berkel and one for the statistics. It also didn’t help that the home team received a green and two yellow cards in that closing stages.

Afterwards, Mooldijk was visibly disappointed. ‘It is such an incredible shame that you lose in this way. Against these guys in the preparation we played perhaps our best game so far, and today we failed to reach that level. Such an observation is enormously frustrating.’ Consequently, he could not really enjoy the festivities. ‘Some can switch over a lot easier, but I’ll probably be balking for the rest of the day.’

Van der Ree saw that his team had focused itself too much on the opponent at times. ‘It seemed like there was too much tension, so we made wrong choices. We picked up unnecessary cards and lost control in phases. At this level that gets punished immediately. Where last year we could have a lesser period without consequences, now we are paying the price for that immediately.’

Mooldijk is happy with his goals. Photo: Frank van der Leer