While the sun was shining outside, young ice hockey players and ice hockey players were looking for the cold in the Glanerbrook ice rink in Geleen in recent days.
During the Easter weekend, the arena of Snackpoint Eaters Limburg was the stage for an international youth tournament, in which players in the categories under-9 and under-11 competed. And maybe we’ll see some of them in the BENE-League in about ten years:
Netherlands, Belgium and Germany
Hundreds of visitors found their way to Glanerbrook. Besides the teams of VJB Smoke Eaters – the youth department of the Geleen ice hockey club – also teams from Belgium, Germany and other Dutch cities appeared. It provides Eaters with a lot of enthusiasm around the club and for the young ice hockey players it is a great opportunity to show their best side in a well-filled hall against strong opponents.
accretion
Although ice hockey may not be the most obvious sport to practice at a young age, the growth at Eaters is good, says VJB Smoke Eaters chairman Joey Nijsten. “As a club, we try to guide them as best as possible at a young age. It is a sport where the equipment costs a bit and where you also have to travel a lot, but our membership numbers remain constant.”
‘You see them grow’
An international youth tournament is a great incentive for the young players. “Normally they only play in front of their own parents, but today there are always at least a hundred people in the stands. And you see the talents grow on such a day as this. The smile on their face, that’s what you do it for. And at the end of the tournament, everyone won.”
Jeffrey van Iersel
Eaters also presented a new head coach for both the youth academy and the flagship in the BENE-League on Saturday. Jeffrey van Iersel, former player of the club, will combine both tasks. It is the intention that in the coming years he will lift ice hockey to a higher level for both the youth and the main force.
Also read: Back on old nest: Jeffrey van Iersel new coach Eaters