Den Helder – The season of the Den Helder Suns ladies came to an end on Wednesday evening earlier than expected and hoped. After the second defeat against Jolly Jumpers in five days, the battle for the title was quickly over. Coach Mario Bennes had reason to think carefully about next season. Will he be coach of the Suns again?
“It is the first time in five years that I have finished in April, I am not used to that and I did not anticipate that,” says the coach. “I did not meet my own target, I at least expected that we would play the semi-finals of the play-offs.” For a team that has almost always competed for the title in previous years, it took some getting used to the lower performances this season.
“We played quite well in certain phases of the season, but you see that you play too many against the same opponents. That is not beneficial,” says Bennes. “If you have already played against a team a few times and have won or just lost, then you may unconsciously think about it a little too easily and then things go wrong.”
Overrated?
This may also have been the case with opponent Jolly Jumpers. “We had played well against them twice this season, even though we lost by small margins both times. We really grew as the season went on, so we had the belief that we could win. Maybe we overestimated that a bit. We still couldn’t deal with the difficult phases of a match well enough.”
At the start of the season, Bennes knew that seriously competing for the national title was most likely not an option, as too many important players (such as Iris Fennema and Janiek van Veen) had left. “At the start of the season I thought it would be possible to finish in the top five, but it took longer before we were at the desired level. Then you just don’t win a few matches and you don’t end up in the top 5.”
Progression
The coach believes that, despite the disappointing result, all the ladies in his team have improved this year. “Lotte Toornstra, for example, has really taken great steps and it was fantastic to see how Leonie Plagmeijer competed with all her energy and there is even more growth in that.” The American Brooke Bigott will return to America next week. It is still unclear whether she will return after the summer. “Next season there must first be a good Dutch core, including a real leader.”
At least two players will be leaving after this season. Both Mecx van Lingen and Shelaney Kopra have indicated that they will quit. No new names have been announced at this time and the return of Janiek van Veen is also not on the agenda. “She has had a great season in Belgium and has signed a new contact with an even better club.”
Future
Bennes has not yet made a decision about his future, he will soon meet with the Suns board. “I find it quite difficult to play a season where I cannot compete for prizes. If I set that target for this season, the semi-final would have been ‘a prize’, but that did not work out. In the short term I will sit down with the board to discuss whether and how we will continue next season.”
