Leiderdorp wins derby from Grasshoppers after a turbulent week

Wereldtickets.nl/Leiderdorp won their first match without coach Joris Zandbergen who unexpectly quit recently. Rival STOL-Grasshoppers were able to keep up for a while in a disappointingly played derby, but lost in the end: 70-57. There was much more talk about the Leiderdorp´s coaching position than over the match itself. There seemed to be some confusion on that point. Chairman, Rinus Kroon, advised that Irene Sloof (a player who has been out with an injury for some time) who has the proper coaching license, would take over the honors. Unfortunately, she did not agree. Sloof hopes to be able to play some matches later in the season, and prefers that to a coaching function.

Ferencz Szitas, the former assistant to Zandberger, has now been given the task. He doesn’t have the license required, but is allowed to use Sloof´s. “Because, according the to rules, someone on the bench must have a proper license,” says chairman Rinus Kroon. Renate Sluijs has been added to the technical staff. The old international now plays in the 2nd team. Kroon will also add someone to handle the video analysis.

Zandbergen´s departure, due to incompatibility with the team, gives Kroon a good opportunity to increase the training staff and to specialise. “This has been my ambition for some time. We have to build a more professional staff, with special trainings for the defenders and attackers. Also more attention to the match analysis.”

The departure of Zandbergen came as a surprise to his former assistant Szitas. “I didn’t see it coming. But it is what it is, and that’s bad enough,” he states. To close things off, he says, “I don’t want to talk about Joris anymore, just look to the future.”

For Leiderdorp, the derby came at a good time. They did manage to win, although not decisively. In the second and third quarter, they were not able to widen their lead against the Katwijk’s team. Only in a few instances did Leiderdorp demonstrate good basketball. The five 3-pointers by Corinne Manuputty were loudly applauded in De Bloemerd. In the last quarter, Grasshoppers did not play well which allowed Leiderdorp to take a larger lead. Coach Szitas was proud, “The team concentrated and played with passion.”

His colleague Bo Melis, coach of Grasshoppers, was disappointed, “The entire match was played weakly, with no aggression. For a team that averages 87 points, this is ridiculous.” Only American Heather Stec played a strong game and scored 19 points. She managed to score the same amount as Manuputty.

Leiderdorp is still confident that they will end the season well. “The championship and winning the cup,” says Kroon. “We can’t hide from the fact that this team has more than enough quality,” according to Szitas.

Considering what has just happened, his answer to the question if he would finish the season was not surprising, “You never know.”