VOC returned to sports hall Elzenhagen after more than three weeks: “No one has experienced this”

Due to the emergency shelter, training and playing in Elzenhagen was not possible. For almost three weeks, the VOC handball players hopped all over Amsterdam to train in alternative halls. In recent weeks, the Amsterdam-squad therefore only played away games.

Unique

Jill Kooij played as a professional in Germany for several years. She has a lot of experience, but had never experienced this before. “In Germany we had our own hall and everything was also more professional. You can hardly compare those situations. However, it doesn’t really matter whether or not you played in Germany. I don’t think anyone has ever experienced this.”

Calm returns

The situation also led to dissatisfaction with the trainer Rachel de Haze. She saw that her team lacked structure, resulting in less performance. That is why she is now all the more happy that the team is back in Amsterdam-North.

“It was very messy and chaotic. Also in terms of communication and that had an influence on the team. We had to train temporarily in other sports halls. That was a switch for the girls and you noticed that we had difficulty with that in the beginning. Now we are back and peace has returned.”

VOC played against VELO on Saturday evening. The start of the match was even. As the game progressed, the team from Amsterdam ran out. That was partly because trainer Rachel de Haze put her players on edge during a time-out. At halftime, VOC ran out to 16-11.

VOC started well in the second half. It quickly became 18-13 and a little later even 23-17. In the final phase it all went well and the team from Amsterdam had a margin of ten points. In the end it was a big victory for VOC: 38-23.