NETHERLANDS: HUGO VAN REEKEN WANTS TO GO FROM GOOISCHE TO THE GAMES WITHIN EIGHT YEARS

‘In 2032 I want to be the first goalkeeper for the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in Brisbane.’ Signed: Hugo van Reeken. The 24-year-old goalie is not afraid to be ambitious, even though he currently plays for Gooische in the basement of the Promotion Class. ‘I believe that if you have a dream, it will become reality if you do whatever it takes.’

According to his coach Dider Meijer, Van Reeken’s Dutch ambitions are not so crazy. ‘Hugo is one of the greatest goal talents in the Netherlands. He has a similar build to that of Jaap Stockmann and Martijn Drijver. Tall and athletic, which comes in very handy as a goalkeeper. His reflexes are insane. I’m sure he has at least the potential to grow into a big league team.’

Van Reeken started playing hockey at Pinoké. He was part of the group that became national indoor hockey champion in the B1 nine years ago. He also had a taste of the banner team for two years, as second goalkeeper behind Hidde Brink. The Amsterdammer had no view of the number one position for the time being. After a call to all promotion class teams, he was welcome at Qui Vive to be the first choice.

‘It was great to be given that responsibility during the games. Qui Vive is a family club with not the best players, but they worked very hard. In addition to goalkeeper training, I was on the field seven times a week.’

Getting used to a different club culture

After a Covid season and direct relegation the following year, Van Reeken contacted Meijer. The goalkeeper and the coach knew each other from their time at Pinoké. Gooische had just been promoted to the Promotion Class and Van Reeken desperately wanted to remain active at at least that level. Meijer was waiting for him with open arms.

The competition and coach were familiar territory for Van Reeken, but that did not apply to the club culture. ‘Last season we trained twice a week at Gooische. That was much less than I was used to. I compensated with three extra goalkeeper training sessions to keep myself sharp. Actually a bit too much of a good thing, but I thought we could work a little harder. At Gooische, fun is of paramount importance. The players are basically a group of friends, many are already at work. They absolutely want to win and are individually very good hockey players. Several of them have played in the big league. But they enjoy being on the field with their mates just as much. I had to get used to that mindset.’

Van Reeken did not leave it at that. Coffee, team outings and one-on-one conversations after training and matches were supposed to bring him closer to his teammates. ‘It took me a year before that connection was really there. But It worked. I now know how they work and vice versa. The coaching on the field is also different. Very direct. You can communicate clearly because you know that each other has the best intentions. That you don’t say something to piss someone off.’

Inspiration from ‘hero’ Laurens Goedegebuure

With Van Reeken in goal, Gooische maintained himself directly last season, albeit barely. The Bussummers are also having difficulty getting started this season. With nine points from eleven games, the team is currently in eleventh place in the rankings. In the hall, Gooische recently achieved the first major success of the year, by being promoted to the highest level during the play-offs.

‘Last year we were one goal short of promotion. That was terror. This season we wanted to go for it even more. Fun is even more important in the hall than on the field. Some players weren’t even excited for a match. But when it was necessary, they were there. On the final day we felt everything that we were going to do it. We had turned on Bob Marley beforehand, so we went into the matches very relaxed.’

Van Reeken himself had a significant share in the success. During the all-decisive last match against Laren, he made several catty saves, especially in the thrilling final minutes. ‘My great indoor hockey role model is Laurens Goedegebuure. He played goalkeeper during the Indoor World Cup in 2015 and, among other things, took a penalty corner in the last minute of the final. I’ve watched his YouTube videos many times. Super inspiring. I got his phone number through a teammate. He had given me all kinds of tips via app. For example, I have to remain standing when faced with a corner. That helped me enormously. I have already watched the videos of that hall day a hundred times.’

All goalkeeper videos were copied from YouTube

With an indoor title in his pocket, Gooische has now started preparing for the second half of the season. Van Reeken: ‘You notice that the hall boys are now more alert than before. We now also want to fix it on the field. We have now seen that if we really set our minds to something, we can do it.’

In any case, it will not be due to Van Reeken’s efforts. ‘I pay attention to my diet, hardly eat sugar, do strength training in the gym and also go to bed on time on Fridays. I have seen all the goalkeeper videos on YouTube. Especially that of my other role model, David Harte. Just like Laurens, he is a cool frog in goal. He doesn’t move much, but he does exactly what is needed to keep the ball out of the goal. That’s how I want to play goalkeeper.’