Netherlands: Telgenkamp Is International Again: ‘Want To Experience Field Hockey Differently’

He spent the summer at his office in The Hague. Barely got anything out of the silver European Championship in Mönchengladbach. And made his return to the Oranje training group on Monday after a five-month absence. Duco Telgenkamp is an international again. ‘Less obsession, more enjoying the moment.’

In the middle of the interview, Telgenkamp briefly bursts into laughter. Last night I had forgotten what clothes we were training in. Without really thinking about it, I had already put the old set in the bag. I already had the new outfit, though. But I had to start packing all over again.

He tells it in Amsterdam’s clubhouse, where he and half the team are resting from the first practice on this Monday. ‘Going into the gym later,’ he sounds relaxed. ‘It felt like old times very quickly. You get used to it so quickly. Then you just hear: it’s good that you’re back. And then it’s back to the results of this weekend.

Duco the international and businessman

So the Parisian gold medalist is back. Was also added back to the group app on Sunday, where he exited before the summer. It’s Duco again, the international. A huge contrast to the businessman we spoke to some three months before. In his stately business building in The Hague, he talked about his hockey-free summer. About the dot on the horizon that was missing.

About the tricky combination between running a company – a streaming health service – and top field hockey. And about his performance obsession in field hockey, which brought him much but also didn’t last long. An interview that absolutely still showed his love of field hockey. But that feeling was overgrown with countless question marks.

‘I had been thinking about those topics since the Olympics,’ Telgenkamp says. ‘So it was not a five-month sabbatical for me, but a process that had been going on for much longer. I knew very well in what way I did not want to continue as an international. But how I did want it, I still had to figure that out. I’ve been working on that recently. And I think I have found a good mode in that.’

Photo: Willem Vernes

‘The big goal for me was how to sustain it more sustainably as an international. Enjoying the game without doing that only when I score. Or only when we won something. Actually, that already didn’t work, because I was already busy with the next match. I am now consciously trying to let go of that. When I was thirteen I was already afraid I wouldn’t be able to become an Olympic champion if I couldn’t score against Victoria with the C1 of HDM. I want to experience field hockey differently now. To approach it more chillly, without being less good on the field.’

When I was thirteen I was already afraid that I couldn’t become an Olympic champion later if I couldn’t score with HDM’s C1 against Victoria. Duco Telgenkamp

He talked about this a lot with his parents. His girlfriend. And also with national coach Jeroen Delmee. ‘It was about what I actually liked about field hockey. I had to go back to the basics. To the Duco who played field hockey to have fun. Inside, but also outside the field. Not being so forced into thinking about the next practice or Sunday’s opponent. I try to think less about how their last man runs and how I can score.’

‘That went on and on. I was never off. Constantly that pressure about what’s going to happen and what I have to do to be good. You can do that at the playoffs or at a tournament. But not 365 days a year. I’m making that switch and it’s going in the right direction.’

Photo: Willem Vernes

‘I do know what I can do’

While busy with his field hockey experience, Telgenkamp also felt the eagerness to be part of the Dutch national team again. ‘I was looking for contact again. Asked questions again. Saw something come up about the World Cup that I found interesting. I became curious again. And that was very nice to notice.

He watched the European Championship final with Miles Bukkens, who missed the tournament due to a knee injury. ‘Other than that I didn’t see much, was also busy with work. I also didn’t feel the need to completely change my schedule. I thought they played seriously well in the final. Saw then again how nice it is to be part of that.’

And so he saw the lost shoot-out series against Germany, against whom he scored the winning goal in the Olympic final a year earlier. He won’t say himself that his team missed him there. ‘But I do know what I can do. That I can bring something to a moment like that. If I had been in that final, I would have created danger.’

With Miles Bukkens. Photo: Willem Vernes

Flirting with a return

It brought him another small step closer to a return. A month after the EC, he asked Delmee if they could meet. ‘That felt like flirting. I told him I would consider it a huge honor if he wanted to call on me again. Fortunately, he responded very positively. Because I can want a lot, in the end I don’t make the selection.’

That task obviously lies with the national coach, who already indicated that the fire was back with Telgenkamp. ‘Because we kept in touch, I knew exactly how he was doing,’ Delmee said. ‘We gave him space, he needed that. During that time he took a good look at whether he still wanted to be a top athlete. You have to like it, it’s a way of living. It has been good that he took a distance in the summer, because of that he can now stand there again.’

Photo: Willem Vernes

Whether there is another Telgenkamp standing, Delmee does not dare say yet. ‘I didn’t see him that good today either. The future will tell. The total picture in his life has to be right. If it doesn’t, we’ll notice it at the Orange.’

And in the group there was also room for a very goal-oriented striker. ‘We all know that the performance at the European Championship could have been a bit higher,’ Delmee said. ‘And we also know what Duco performed at the tournaments he played. He is a finisher. If we had finished better at the EC, we would have become European champions. I’m not saying other guys can’t do that; but it is a trademark of Duco. That can be deadly in the circle.’

In the beanbag with his buddies

That deadly striker also has a better balance between work and field hockey. ‘On training days, I work mornings and evenings. But when I’m here with the group, I don’t want to – as I used to – do all kinds of appointments in between. I also want to take time to chat. To eat a sandwich in peace. And so lie in the beanbags with Miles and Floris Middendorp, until the next workout comes. Less obsession, more enjoying the moment.’