Back to the Eredivisie with BZ&PC; “As a competitive athlete, you want to play at the highest possible level and get the most out of yourself”
After an absence of 21 seasons, the Bodegraaf water polo players of BZ&PC are returning to the Eredivisie this season. After winning the championship in the 1st division, passionate coach Herman van Tongerloo is looking forward to surprising his team at the highest level in the Netherlands.
In 1998, the Bodegraaf team reached the Eredivisie for the first time in the club’s history, which was known as the premier league at the time. The 67-year-old Van Tongerloo led the team to the Eredivisie in both 1998 and 2001. At the time, he was at the beginning of his career as a water polo coach. The club man has now noticed that the sport has changed considerably.
''Where shall I begin? First of all, the sport has become more commercial and most players know each other. There are many positive changes, although the core of the game remains the same: working towards a goal together with a team. And I still do that with great pleasure with the young, energetic guys," says the former coach of AZC Alphen, Brandenburg and ZPB.
Theory and practice
At a young age, the coach already went to training with his father, and it did not take long before he fell in love with the game. He played water polo until he was 38 and started his coaching career during the Louis van Gaal era at Ajax. Van Tongerloo likes to combine practice with theory and even picked up the phone to ask Van Gaal for advice.
"In our sport, you have to use your training time well to use the right game forms. Through Louis, I received schedules that were used in football by Ajax's top sports physiologist Jos Geijsel. These were about aerobic or anaerobic training. You can also shoot at the goal for an hour, but if the shooting technique is not effective, little will improve. Nowadays, many coaches use scientific insights, and that helps the sport move forward," says Van Tongerloo, who is also a director of Stichting Voortgezet Onderwijs Gouda and heads four schools.
The road to the top
Last year, the team was at the top at Christmas and the title race remained exciting for the selection from Bodegraven until the last match day. The promotion was secured during the away match against former Eredivisie club HZC de Robben.
"The championship came at exactly the right time and is the result of a long process. Every year we set ourselves a goal, and as a competitive athlete you want to play at the highest level and get the most out of yourself. Halfway through last season we stated that the Eredivisie would be our goal. We have grown as a club, individual athlete and as a group, and it is great to be among the best 12 teams in the Netherlands again with these men".
Love for the sport with his boys
Partly because there are several water polo clubs in the area, the team has been playing together for a long time and consists largely of our own youth players, supplemented by players with a BZ&PC heart. After the departure of goalkeeper Niels Zwijnenburg, Luc Hoogland, goalkeeper Simon Hruskovic, centre back René Peek and Jari Krijgsman were added to the team. According to Van Tongerloo, cooperation is one of the key words for this season.
''It takes a lot of effort to put together a team that can perform at Eredivisie level. We have a selection of 14 men, three of whom have Eredivisie experience. The mutual cohesion and coming up with something together, executing it and working towards a common goal is great! I think it is incredibly clever that we have achieved this for our "village club" with largely our own people.
According to the coach, the core of coaching is to constantly make choices.
''In our team sport, you have to deal with multiple people who need to be approached differently. One player has a family at home and the other has to deal with work agreements and all characters have their own quirks and quirks. It is often a matter of trial and error and learning to understand each other in order to be able to work well together.
Patience is the battle plan
However, in order to perform well in the highest water polo competition in the Netherlands, the coach thinks that the Bodegravers' style of play will have to be adjusted somewhat.
''At every level, the game is played differently, at the top, the physical game with the centre-back and the centre-forward is crucial. That is where you can create your man-more situation and that is the best chance to score. Referees also whistle more strictly at this level and give faster personal mistakes. In the lower classes the pace is often high due to a lot of ball loss, it gives a nice dynamic but it can be your undoing in the Eredivisie. We have to learn to be patient, otherwise the opponent will be gone. We will have to dose our actions, keep a close eye on the 30' sec. clock and play safely. You won't hear me shout 'come on boys' very often this season. It will take some getting used to for everyone, but I'm incredibly looking forward to it!"
