The handball players of Drenth Groep Hurry-Up can win the second major prize in club history on Thursday on Ascension Day in the cup final against Volendam. Ronald Suelmann and coach Joop Fiege did that before with the Zwartemeerders.
Playing a cup final remains something special. Especially when half of Zwartemeer walks out to attend the cup battle against Volendam in a top sports center in Almere with a few thousand spectators and cheer on their heroes. ,,Last time we played the cup final it was good”, says Suelmann. ,,Especially afterwards”, his coach Joop Fiege adds wittily. Both were there in 2011 when Hurry-Up defeated arch-rival E & O 27-25 in its previous cup final.
The then youngster, and now veteran Suelmann excelled for the Zwartemeerders. Mister Hurry-Up scored no less than fifteen times and thus played an important role in winning the first major prize in club history. ,,A cup final is special, you don’t often experience that”, says Suelmann. ,,I played it once before and then for the Supercup, but we didn’t win it.” Fiege: ,,I don’t remember anything about that match for the Supercup. That’s probably because we lost it, haha.”
Winning the national cup remains a major prize for me with a capital H
Fiege has won the Cup more times than just with Hurry-Up. With his impressive playing career, including at E & O and Aalsmeer and in Portugal, that happened six times in total. But also for the chastened coach, who leaves BeNe-League team Hurry-Up at the end of the season, winning the cup again remains very valuable. ,,Winning a prize is always fun”, says the born Amsterdammer. ,,Winning the national cup remains a major prize for me with a capital H. Everyone wants to win that cup. You can see that in how everyone lives. Not only with the people in Zwartemeer, but also in Volendam. In football, the stadium was not half full at the cup final, but was sold out. That will also be the case in Almere when we play against Volendam.”
In any case, a large number of buses with supporters will leave from Zwartemeer on Thursday to attend the final. From Rolde there is also a bus with people who want to support the Hurry-Up players Harm Meijer and Brent Riksten who grew up there. In addition, many Zwartemeerders still travel to the final in their own car, which will be played from four o’clock in the afternoon. The exact number of Drenthe supporters is not yet clear, but it will be many hundreds.
I think all of Zwartemeer will be empty on Thursday
Suelmann: ,,I think that all of Zwartemeer will be empty on Thursday.” Fiege, jokingly: ,,If people want to break in, they should do it. But Volendam is also empty. That massive support for both teams gives a nice atmosphere.”
According to the coach, playing a final certainly gives extra tension for his players. “But you always have to make sure they are not too tense. But they shouldn’t be too weak in the legs either. There may be some tension involved. That will happen automatically, as a coach I don’t have to do anything for that. When the players walk into the hall and see all those people, they will immediately know what it is all about. This is going to be something really special. It will be exciting between two teams that are evenly matched. We saw that earlier in the season.”
,,We just have to win the cup final, otherwise nobody will talk about it in three or four years”, says Suelmann. The Klazienavener had actually stopped at the first to play in the second. But due to the large number of injuries this season, he joined the main squad of Hurry-Up again and was again very important. ,,A final day like that goes in a daze.”
We know Volendam very well
Fiege: ,,We know Volendam very well as an opponent. But I am not surprised when players play in a different position. We take that into account. Anything can happen. In the training sessions we have dealt with many things, but you can still be surprised. That’s the fun of sports.”