Belgium hockey’s golden boys still want everything the sport has to offer

They archetypal came calling unneurotic much than a decennary ago, arsenic kids uncovering their mode successful top-grade hockey — a satellite removed from being legends of the game. Cue 2026 and Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur Van Doren person a trophy furniture overflowing with everything that is to beryllium won successful the sport.

They are inactive arsenic exuberant, excited and enthusiastic arsenic teenagers having their infinitesimal successful the sun, aged warhorses of the Belgium squad that fake offence astatine ‘old’, laughter astatine their ain jokes and implicit each other’s sentences. They mightiness beryllium connected the incorrect broadside of 30, erstwhile teams commencement looking astatine replacements, but stay cardinal to the Red Lions’ plans of reclaiming their dominance.

Down years

The past mates of years haven’t been large vis-a-vis their ain precocious standards. Belgium failed to marque the semifinals astatine some the Paris Olympics and the 2025 European Championships, and the 2 are among the precise fewer to continue, accepting some revised roles successful the broadside and the situation of keeping gait with the newcomers.

Hendrickx and Van Doren, the defender duo that archetypal visited India for the 2013 Junior World Cup, spent astir 2 months successful the state earlier heading location aft the Pro League games successful Rourkela. During this period, they won the Hockey India League with Vedanta Kalinga Lancers and remained unbeaten successful the 4 Pro League outings, Hendrickx going 2nd connected the goalscorers’ array with 9 truthful acold successful 8 matches.

“The longest we’ve been connected the roadworthy was astatine the opening of the Pro League season, astir 5 weeks, successful antithetic countries. I deliberation we toured the full satellite successful those 5 weeks. Now we person been 7 weeks successful 1 country. And it ever helps if you’re winning; past you consciousness amended astir it and you’re happier to beryllium anywhere,” Hendrickx — astatine 32 a twelvemonth older, but you wouldn’t cognize it from their demeanours — quipped.

Van Doren, the skipper and the much superior one, agreed. “It’s been good. Obviously, we had a large HIL, which besides helps. We’ve played well, we won the HIL, we look backmost astatine that play with fond memories, of course. The vantage is that compared to past year, we did 4 antithetic cities, which benignant of chopped the enactment into parts. Also the modulation betwixt planetary work and HIL besides benignant of broke it a small bit. But it’s been a agelong enactment distant from household and friends and I don’t deliberation it is weird erstwhile I accidental I volition beryllium blessed to yet beryllium flying backmost to Belgium.”

It’s hard to not beryllium drawn successful by the charismatic pair. As aggravated arsenic they are connected field, determination is simply a playfulness disconnected it that gives a glimpse of wherefore they proceed to bask what they do. The camaraderie disconnected the tract — not conscionable betwixt the 2 but among the full Belgian broadside — they admit is simply a large contributor to their occurrence connected it.

“If you deliberation astir it logically, the astir clip you walk successful a tourney artifact is disconnected the field. And the portion connected the tract is really a precise tiny part. So everything you bash successful and astir the hockey tract is for that portion connected the hockey tract to beryllium perfect. It is rather important to person a bully understanding, not lone betwixt 2 players but successful the civilization successful general. I deliberation it is often underestimated and it’s thing that needs clip to build,” Van Doren said.

“Which is wherefore often newer oregon younger teams, connected insubstantial with capable quality, request clip to physique a civilization and for everybody to find their ain spot and rhythm. I deliberation that’s 1 of the astir important parts of a palmy team. Obviously the prime you bring connected tract with your stick, that’s important. But it goes mode further than lone hockey skills oregon punishment country conversions.”

Team bonding

Hendrickx elaborated: “We besides person a batch of amusive successful the radical disconnected pitch, you’re chilling astatine the excavation unneurotic oregon playing paper games, laughing. I deliberation that brings everybody unneurotic arsenic well. And you talk. You get to cognize each different connected a idiosyncratic level better, family-wise, worldly similar that. You observe each your important moments together. All that adds to being a bully team.”

Hendrickx is chatty, but determination is nary doubting the perpetually ticking encephalon and the competitiveness down the ever-present toothy grin. The Junior World Cup is the 1 trophy Van Doren and helium don’t have, and ne'er will, for evident reasons, but the 2013 variation intelligibly laid the instauration for Belgium’s emergence from No. 10-to-15 successful the satellite to the precise apical wrong 10 years.

“We cannot spell backmost successful time, but I deliberation we besides learned a batch from that tournament, losing the quarterfinal against France. You larn from your mistakes and everything we did not bash good there, we tried to bash amended successful the future. Every measurement successful your vocation helps you to get further. But I deliberation there’s inactive immoderate spots near successful the trophy cabinet, due to the fact that we privation to triumph arsenic agelong arsenic we’re playing. We privation to triumph everything!” Hendrickx declared arsenic a conflict cry, forcing adjacent Van Doren to interruption into a laugh.

With Tom Boon (36) inactive making beingness hard for rival teams and Hendrickx (32) and Van Doren (31) rather young successful examination and with the richness of their accomplishments, it is casual to place the information that the existent Belgian squad has 4 generations playing and grooming together, 2025 Junior World Cup skipper Lucas Balthazar, astatine 20, the latest addition.

Does it consciousness weird? “Yes, convey you. We’ve covered that part, we are getting old,” Van Doren protested. “We started with not excessively young and present it’s outright old, tin we speech astir thing else,” Hendrickx added with unreal anger. But they hold that property does unit you to respect your assemblage much than ever.

Listening to the body

“You get wiser, you get much acquisition truthful you cognize what your assemblage needs successful what instance. You larn from injuries and your vocation connected however to grip your body. I talk for myself, but astir apt Arthur arsenic well, erstwhile I accidental I was not a large instrumentality of stretching oregon betterment oregon each the worldly similar that arsenic a youngster. But erstwhile you get older you commencement to realise what your assemblage needs. You instrumentality much care, spell to the physio, devour and slumber well. You bash everything to beryllium arsenic acceptable arsenic imaginable due to the fact that the youngsters, they travel successful with caller legs, they tin conscionable go,” Hendrickx explained, Van Doren nodding his agreement.

The erstwhile Olympic, World and European champions person been doing it for a agelong clip now. And some person nary plans of going anyplace astatine slightest until the 2028 Olympics. That’s 3 much years of teams scratching their corporate heads to find ways of wrong-footing Van Doren and denying Hendrickx’s drag-flicks. Good quality for Belgium, not truthful overmuch for the rest.