Recently, Elmar (11) from Eelde suddenly started skating with many others. “There are more members because three clubs merged,” he says. He always skated at Noordoost Drenthe, but that association no longer exists. He has been skating for SV Drenthe since October.
This association was created because Noordoost Drenthe merged with De Scheuvelloper from Assen and De Hunen from Zuidoost Drenthe. “It’s also more fun. I didn’t skate with others, but I do notice that there are others on the ice rink.”
Since the skating rink in Assen closed, the number of members at the Drenthe associations has decreased. To skate, the Drenthe people have to travel to Kardinge in Groningen or Thialf in Heerenveen. Or hope for natural ice. “Since the closure, we have started working together more and more,” says Christian van Wijhe, chairman of SV Drenthe. After consultation with all members, the merger has been completed and has become a reality since this skating season.
Turning the three different clubs into one club still takes some work. They all have a different culture and different statutes. But for the past week and a half, SV Drenthe has been wearing their own club shirt. Or at least, the first skaters, because most of them are still riding in their old shirts. “We are still busy distributing,” says Van Wijhe.
SV Drenthe currently has about 235 members. This could get a boost again with the arrival of a skating rink in Assen. “From that hall we can teach young people to skate. If they want to continue after that, they can come to us.”
Elmar is now enjoying the track in Groningen. He thinks the nice thing about skating is that you can go “nice and fast”. “The training sessions are a lot of fun. You can do all kinds of different things. You can start fast and slow, with lots of laps. All that together is a lot of fun.”
Training an Olympian may take some time, although a young Drenthe native is well on his way. Jasmijn Veenhuis from Gieten has already won gold at the World Junior Championships. Van Weijen: “She is a member of our club and is well on her way. Milan will come a little too early next year. Four years later? Let’s hope so.” And Elmar? “Well, I don’t want to do a lot of skating later. Maybe professional. But just skating is fine.”