The Netherlands: The main class year: Time for revenge at Rotterdam

The new Tulip main class season is coming. With the double between Amsterdam and Hurley, the new field hockey year starts at the very first level on Saturday. Traditionally we look ahead at Veldhockey.nl and we do that on the side of the men today. Will the sudden success of Amsterdam continue? And which talents and foreigners do we have to look forward to this year?

First things first. Who will take the title this year?
We could work on a definitive conclusion with many plus points and minuses. But we prefer to give it immediately. We put our money on Kampong, just like last season. At that time we were not well proven, because the people of Utrecht lost the final to Amsterdam. Of course the departure of David Harte ‘feels’ the best acquisition ever of Kampong’ as a huge loss. But his replacement is a good one: Spaniard Luis Calzado impressed by the Olympic Games and also held a good European championship. So they still have an international top keeper at their disposal at the Klapperboom.

Admittedly, they also have it with the rest of the top six, seven. But Kampong also still has one of the best corner shooters in the world with Jip Janssen. In each line there are different top players who can find each other blindly. From Lars Balk and Sander de Wijn to Derck de Vilder and Jonas de Geus. With that, Kampong has a particularly well -balanced selection that knows what is needed to become champions (they did in 2024) and a group that was enthusiastic about honor after last season. Last argument: apart from the change in the goal, no big stars have come or disappeared. Indeed, the heart of the team has been playing together for years. That contributes to the stability in Tim Oudenaller’s team.

And who will make the play -offs?
Maybe an even more difficult question than that above. Again, this season there are seven teams that compete four places. So we write Kampong for the outburst of the competition. The same applies to Rotterdam. Because afterwards is a sporty miracle that the team of Erik van Driel ended last season after just 22 games. They had all the tools to make a decent offer for the title. At the time, club icon Jeroen Hertzberger was still there. No new top player came in place, so the selection lost in quality. On the other hand: with six internationals, Rotterdam was the courtlevancier for the Dutch European Championship selection. That fact alone would be a reason to write the single national champion for the play -offs. In short: time for sporting revenge.

We also make room in this list for Den Bosch, who reached the semi -final for the first time in four years last season. That happened with a nice keeper, excellent corner (Timo Boers pushed even more often than Janssen last year) and, of course, internationals Thierry Brinkman and Koen Bijen, whom the team trusts heavily. A tough unity with fewer stars than Rotterdam and Kampong and therefore an outsider for the title.

Floris Middendorp. Photo: Willem Vernes

As number four we notice Amsterdam. The Rick Mathijssen team proved last year that they could deliver. In the hand of Star Floris Middendorp – rightly voted for best player of the competition – the first title was captured in thirteen years. Amsterdam has only become stronger; They already landed the best English goalkeeper Ollie Payne in the winter. So there is really no reason why the title holder should not make the play -offs this year. Although they are certainly not the favorite.

So who misses in our crystal ball? Pinoké, Orange-Red and Historically the most surprising-Bloemendaal. Our most important argument for the latest choice: the lack of a real fine-coring canon. That was also a pain in the lost EHL final against Gantoise. None of the current selection of the record champion used more than ten corners last season. Their most important specialist Marc Miralles has succeeded in doing this, but is now playing field hockey in Spain again.

Who will be under the line soon?
The usual suspects. The two promoters Schaerweijde and Laren and Playout participant Hurley will fight between the three to see who will be banned immediately. On paper, the teams of “The Little Three” look little different than each other. We cannot ignore the metamorphosis that took place in Zeist. No fewer than eleven new names are on the list of recurring coach Razwan Ahmed. That extreme change ensures that we mention Schaerweijde as number twelve.

Laren and Hurley are slightly more stable, so we placed them in the Playoff places. Hurley knows all too well that it can go there in all sides. Last season, the Amsterdammers needed shoot-outs against Tilburg to stay in the big league. Watch out: Hurley has Joren Romijn under the bar this season. He was the first choice with National Champion Amsterdam last season, but left because of Payne’s arrival.

Struan Walker and Jelle Galema. Photo: Ewout Pahud

Who will be the best foreigner of this season?
The list of contenders is long. From Mustapha Cassiem (Amsterdam) to Thies Prinz (Pinoké) and from Arno van Dessel (Bloemendaal) to Pol Cabe-Verdiell (Oranje-Red). We will emphasize one that is already striking us. A newcomer, also from OR. We are talking about Struan Walker, the shot that was already impressed during preparation. He came from Surbiton in the summer.

Walker reminds a bit of Sam Lane, who played field hockey in Eindhoven a few years ago. A real striker, with a penalty corner that can hit it hard. He was the King of the League run in orange-red and can really let it happen. We look forward to it.

On what talent should we pay extra attention?
With the World Under 21 Championship is approaching, an interesting question. Tim Knapper (19) stood out two seasons ago in Schaerweijde and in the long term he was able to become one of the best defenders in the Netherlands in Pinoké. We always enjoy Joppe Wolbert (20), from Den Bosch. Multifunctional and play with his heart on the stick. A hard worker, who also has a corner in the house. We are curious about the steps that Jan van ‘t Land (also only 20) takes with Bloemendaal, where he has been playing for a few years now. Slightly less experienced, but certainly talented, are Lucas Corstens (Amsterdam) and Teun Hogenhout (Bloemendaal). They played the European Under-18 Championship in Lille last summer and will also apply this year in the big league.

And who or what are we going to miss the most this year?
383 goals. 22 seasons in which he only missed one competition. We are really going on. To a big league season without his top scorer of all time, Jeroen Hertzberger.

Prediction final score
1. Kampong
2. Rotterdam
3. De Bosch
4. Amsterdam
5. Bloemendaal
6. Orange-red
7. Pinoké
8. Klein Switzerland
9. HDM
10. Laren
11. Hurley
12. Schaerweijde