IMPRESSIONS ZERO! CLINIC MAY HOLIDAY 2022
First ZERO! Clinic a fact!
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Thursday, May 5 and Friday May 6 was it that time, the first ZERO! Clinics for hockey players and hockey goalkeepers with a mental and/or physical disability! Hockey players and keepers from all over the country from the G/LG hockey competition and the regular youth competition came to the BMHV complex in beautiful Baarn for a super cool day full of hockey fun.
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On Thursday 5 Mayi we started with the ZERO! hockey clinic, a hockey clinic only for players and (novice) keepers with a mental and/or physical disability. Led by our special guests, Mary Kaptein and Ann Boer from the Dutch Hoofdklasse, the warm-up was pretty intense and the tone was set for the rest of the day.
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After the warm-up it was time for the first of two training rounds; under the watchful eye of Anne Boer, the players were challenged to learn new tricks and thus improve their hockey skills. From lifting a ball over various bars to running a course with obstacles, nothing was too crazy to challenge the players. On the other field, the keepers were pushed to the limit with special keeper exercises, with Maartje Kaptein undergoing the same exercises as the participants in her own keeper gear. In between there was always time to relax and chat with each other and with the trainers, while enjoying a nice glass of limo and a gingerbread.
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Fortunately, around noon it was time for lunch, relax, recover from the first hour and a half and socialize with the other participants, staff and trainers.
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After lunch the goalkeepers were challenged by the players in a shoot-outs and penalty shots competition, where the players obviously had to try to score with the goalkeepers. Some participants had never done this before, but after a short explanation the competition started! The enthusiasm splashed off the field and everyone wanted to win, but in the end it was about the incredible fun we had together.
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After a refreshing glass of limo and some fruit, the players and keepers got back to work with the second round of training, where Anne Boer and Maartje Kaptein switched fields and the players suddenly faced a Hoofdklasse keeper during various exercises and had to incredibly do your best to score against Maartje! On the other hand, the keepers were challenged by Anne Boer and the keepers really had to work very seriously to stop Anne's balls!
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It was over around 3:30 pm, after a beautiful day full of hockey, the players and keepers went home tired but satisfied.
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On Friday May 6 we had a joined clinic of the ZERO! Goalkeeper Clinic and the ZERO! Academy Keepers Clinic, a hardcore keepers clinic for competition G/LG keepers and regular youth keepers.
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Just like on Thursday, a challenging warm-up was started immediately. After the warm-up it was time for the first of three training rounds and the keepers were divided into groups of two and walked to their starting exercise together with one of the trainers. Again we had the most diverse and sometimes extreme goalkeeper exercises, from clearing a ball that was thrown hard to show diving and landing on a large mat. The keepers were pushed to the limit with these special keeper exercises. Because of the beautiful weather, it was decided to have a limo break every hour, which the keepers made grateful use of and all went to the coolness of the clubhouse.
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After three hours of hard training and having fun, it was finally time for lunch around noon, relax, recover from the first three and a half hours and socialize with the other participants, staff and trainers. After three hours of hard training and having fun, it was finally time for lunch around noon, relax, recover from the first three and a half hours and socialize with the other participants, staff and trainers. During lunch our special guest arrived: Joren Romijn, keeper of Amsterdam Men 1, who after lunch would not only give the keepers various tips, but would also do demo shoot-outs against a few top players of the BMHV
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In the afternoon the keepers were again challenged with a new series of exercises, so that during the day the keepers were presented with at least 16 different exciting, crazier, challenging exercises. Joren Romijn played along with the other keepers during various exercises and gradually gave the keepers extra tips to become an even better keeper. After the third training round and fifth limo break it was time for the demo, shoot-outs: Joren Romijn against two Men 1 players and one Boys B1 player from the BMHV The boys made it very difficult for Joren and one of the Men 1 players even managed to score twice, but in the end Joren won the all-or-nothing shoot-out! After the demo, it was of course the keepers' turn and, under the watchful eye of the various parents, they were allowed to play the ZERO! challenge staff and trainers. The enthusiasm splashed off the field because both the staff / trainers and the keepers were super fanatical! But in the end it was all about the incredible fun we had together! Around 17:00 it was over, after a beautiful day full of hockey, the players and keepers went home (and fell asleep in the car)!
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It was two incredible top days, thanks to the super enthusiastic participants and our ZERO! staff members!
Thank you all and see you next time!
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See you @ZERO! clinic
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The ZERO! Clinic Team
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JP, Thijmen & Jesse
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