Oranje Sunday
On some Sundays, the Hollandse Club (the local Dutch club) conducts hockey clinics and practice for children at the pitch at CCAB. So when I go for my Sunday morning swim, the corridors will be jammed with children wearing orange jerseys, with their parents. There'll be cones and markers on the astroturf and trainers playing dribbling games with the kids. There'll be sticks hanging by the cage like low-hanging fruit. There'll be a barista who serves coffee and crossiants for the parents who're waiting their kids play.
They watch their kids play in a pitch that's essentially a cage out of a WWE match. CCAB hockey pitch used to be notorious for accidents when it had a netting to cover the specators' corridor. So they put a cage AND a netting.
I could say something about how a local school's hockey clinic would hardly have all the privileges, let alone be able to book the entire pitch for a private function, on a Sunday morning. But I admire the way they (these Dutch expatriates) enjoy their sport. No shouting and screaming, no bloodthirsty competition (that might come later on, though), no pushing children to the limit. Just playing games, some basic stick work and laughing.
Seeing a bunch of children with hockey gear and knee guards running after their trainer - is quite a sight. Completely at odds with the division-level hockey that I left. In this case, the laughter redeems the sport of all its posturing violence.
They watch their kids play in a pitch that's essentially a cage out of a WWE match. CCAB hockey pitch used to be notorious for accidents when it had a netting to cover the specators' corridor. So they put a cage AND a netting.
I could say something about how a local school's hockey clinic would hardly have all the privileges, let alone be able to book the entire pitch for a private function, on a Sunday morning. But I admire the way they (these Dutch expatriates) enjoy their sport. No shouting and screaming, no bloodthirsty competition (that might come later on, though), no pushing children to the limit. Just playing games, some basic stick work and laughing.
Seeing a bunch of children with hockey gear and knee guards running after their trainer - is quite a sight. Completely at odds with the division-level hockey that I left. In this case, the laughter redeems the sport of all its posturing violence.