VRO - Spigthoff Tournament (14.05.2005)

As every year VRO Hockey Club organized their annual mixed tournament having invited all other clubs to join in for the fun. And what a fun it was. A total of 8 teams signed up and played for the winners’ cup. Some very competitive hockey matches were played demonstrating the high level of hockey skills available on the island. The team ‘De Paus & Vesseur’  however proved to be the fittest of all teams for that weekend beating team ATC by 2:0 in the final, taking the grand winner’s price of a giant Magnum Champaign bottle home. This fantastic tournament was once again living proof of the active hockey community on Curacao. Beside of good hockey, lots of social happenings took place and a very nice BBQ made this tournament certainly one to remember. Thanks to all the generous sponsors, the organisation committee for their superb job well done and of course to everybody who was present. For more pictures please navigate to the gallery? Hey, by the way, some of you guys even made it to the Hall of Fame (..shame?!?)...check it out! >>

Touch down of new players

To keep you up to speed, recently few new hockey players have reached the shores of our beautiful islands. We are welcoming them in our hockey community with our best wishes and hospitality. We have pleasure introducing to you:

Antillean hockey women learn valuable lessons

Four games, four losses and ten goals against. For everybody involved with the team it was a tough one to take. Particularly in the final encounter as the Antillean women controlled the pace of the game from start to finish. One of the most painful moments came at the end of the first half. With the Cubans ahead 2-0, the Antilles were awarded a penalty, usually a piece of cake for Miente Gast. She had suffered a painful blow to the head at the beginning of the first match and as a result was forced to sit out most of the first three games. Now she had the chance to put all that misery behind her and put her team back in the game. But Gast put the ball left of the goal. "After all that had happened, everybody wanted her to score that penalty. I guess this was just one of those games where luck wasn't on our side," lamented Duelberg.

However, lack of fortune doesn't tell the whole story as Duelberg is quick to admit. If his ladies have performed above all expectations against one of the best squads in the region, the trip to Cuba has also exposed several weaknesses in his team that will have to be improved upon if the Antilles want to compete for the top spots at next year's Central American Championships in the Dominican Republic. One is the inability to hold the ball up front in order to build up sustained pressure. As Cuban midfielder Larisleidi Olivera put it in her analysis of the Antillean team: "Technically they're good," she said, "but they miss good strikers." Kiona Wellens and Kirsten Roldaan could have made a difference, but both were either hampered by injuries or needed elsewhere on the pitch for tactical reasons. Another area that needs to be improved upon is physical conditioning. The Cuban players were all fitter and faster than their Antillean counterparts. "The Antilles must get in better shape and should realize that hockey is a tough game," warned Olivera.

Cuban coach Hilario Yera also had praise for the Antillean team. "It's technically a strong team," Yera said. "And they have got good tactical positioning. They move well across the pitch, especially in defense." "I was also impressed by the goalkeepers, they were very good," he said of Charlotte Hartmans and Sylvia van Eeden. "So I'm convinced that at this moment in time the Antilles have a good chance against other teams in the region. 

The Cuban team has surely shown to be one of the best within the Americas. The visit to Havana has further strengthened the ties between the Cuban and Antillean Hockey Federations.