Last season SV Sluis finished second behind champion Breskens. The goal of becoming champion was not achieved at that time. This season too, now in Saturday football, the championship was the objective. But even now that seems to be a bridge too far for the fourth grader, to the disappointment of Veron Schram.
“If you see the list of absent players we have to deal with this season, it is very impressive that we are currently third. We have been missing several basic players for an entire season and then you notice that the supply is becoming thin. If you declare in advance that you want to go for the title together, you will quickly suffer damage and then be left behind. If you have to leave a gap with the teams at the top, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up and that is what happened to us.”
This season, coach Ronny Tresonie was also regularly on the bench as a substitute and a number of players from the second team had to be called upon several times. “They handled that perfectly, but it did mean that it was sometimes difficult to get automatic players into the team and as a result we could not always play our own game and that simply cost us losing points. Because twelve players are missing from a selection, that is something that is impossible for almost any team and certainly not for a relatively small club like Sluis.”
The defensive midfield is also not completely satisfied with its own season. “No definitely not. I did score a number of times, but that could and should have been better. Because I had to focus too much on all kinds of peripheral issues, it was to the detriment of my own game and that is what bothers me most. I was more concerned with pulling the cart, coaching and directing fellow players. Logical due to the circumstances this season, but it is a shame because I especially want to be able to bring more football to the table than I have now.”
Looking at the past season with today’s knowledge, Schram is ultimately happy that he and Sluis were not promoted in the end. “We are now third in the fourth division, but if you had played a higher division with this number of absentees… Then we might have ended up scoreless and without a chance at the bottom. Although of course ‘if and then’ is never of any use in football.”
After a three-season trip to Breskens, Schram has played at SV Sluis his entire life and will not be looking for other places anytime soon. “I’m twenty-five and I’m busy working in my parents’ sports shop. I don’t have the ambition to play football elsewhere for the time being. The ambition to take a step higher is certainly there, but preferably with Sluis. We compete at the top every season and try to reach the highest possible level in competitions. This does not always work, but there are demonstrable reasons for this. The title is out of sight, but you never know whether you will still be able to reach the third division through the play-offs. It would be unique for the club because we have never reached that level before. And after all these years, it would also be a wonderful farewell for Ronny to his time as a trainer at the club.”
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