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planet hockey
additions to the league. astrid Bergman
told us: “We like them because they
score lots of goals and they play exciting
hockey. We love having players over
from england!”
So what do the players themselves
think? We spoke to Simon Mantell who
told us: “We all want to improve our
game and in a post-Olympic year with
less international duties moving to a
competitive league is the perfect move.
“every game here is like the toughest
game of the season in england. There
are also three or four top internationals
in every team so you can learn a lot
from them. Barry Middleton was here
last season so we knew it worked well
for him and that the club had looked
after him.”
But is it a two-way thing? What do
HgC get? “They get the continuity and
link-up play from three english players
who know each other well,” he said.
“There are fi ve foreign players altogether
who have a similar social/playing
background so there’s automatic team
bonding.”
So life in Holland is good. But
perhaps best of all for the great British
hockey fan, it means that the players
are benefi ting from playing in a tough
league against the likes of Jamie Dwyer,
Teun De Nooijer and Takae Taekema in
the run up to the 2012 Olympics.
Pictures: Barry Middleton (below) and (top to bottom)
HgC’s all-star squad, a few celebrations, Simon Mantell
on the pitch and Irish international Ian Lewers
a
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