Carnival is also bursting in Tilburg these days, but the players of Tilburg Trappers will have to leave the beers. For the ice hockey players, Sunday, in the own ice sports center, the play-offs will start the umbrella championship in the Oberliga. Trappers player Reno de Hondt (29) from Tilburg does not mind skipping carnival. “We all do everything we can to become a champion,” he says determined.
The last three games in the Oberliga Nord lost the Trappers, but that title had already arrived. Reno: “We didn’t show our best game, we were already unknowingly working on the play-offs. Some boys also got a rest of pain. Now we are ready for the coming important competitions. “
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Tilburg Trappers will therefore compete for the overall title of the Oberliga. On Sunday afternoon at half past four the Tilburgers start at home, Carnival Dinsdag is the second game in Germany against SC Riessersee. In the end Best of Five Both teams make up who will go a round.
“We are not just going to cycle through these rounds.”
The Tilburgers are one of the favorites in the play-offs. “We had a slow start in the regular competition. At one point we lost spacious at home and knew that we could do much more than we showed. We won the following game, then we took over the lead position and we didn’t give it away, “says Reno.” We can be a title candidate, but it is certainly not that we just cycle through these rounds. “
Tilburg Trappers won the Oberliga three times before, last in 2018. Reno was there all three times. “Taking the title is such a relief, you work hard for it for a year. There are more boys in the group who have experienced a championship, but for the younger guests it is new. But don’t think that hunger is only there with them. I am extra driven to go for the title again. I know what I missed. “
“The future is being built here.”
Reno started with ice hockey near Tilburg Trappers, but in his youth he left for the adventure for Sweden and America. He has been back with his old love since 2014. De Tilburger sees that the club is working on a professionalization. “The future is being built. Investing in the youth and the second team is super important. If experienced players stop, there will have to be good quality guys on it. “
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The Tilburger, who combines ice hockey with its own cleaning company, hopes to be on ice for several years. He does not have the ambition to go to a foreign club. “I consciously chose Tilburg Trappers and in Germany we play at a good level,” he says. “In addition, I have my life in Tilburg. For me it is not a question if I want to play somewhere else in the Netherlands. The club lives in the city. When I go to the baker or supermarket, I always come across a fan who asks how it goes.”