Florine Hogendoorn was just 10 years old when she knew she wanted to play field hockey in the United States. Her mother, Liliane, had a colleague whose daughter had just moved to the U.S. to play collegiately.

“From that moment,” Hogendoorn said. “I knew I wanted to do it as well.”

Now, the freshman from The Hague, Netherlands, lives out that dream every day in Syracuse. Hogendoorn has played in all 15 games for the Orange (11-4, 2-4 Atlantic Coast) this season and has started in 12 of them. In those 15, she has five assists and has shared insertion duties on penalty corners. But, before this season, Hoogendoorn had never even seen the field she practices on every day.

“They never saw me play (live),” Hogendoorn said. “And I never came here.”

Syracuse head coach Ange Bradley only discovered Hogendoorn because the midfielder applied to play in the U.S. through an organization called UStudy. Aside from her academics, Hogendoorn had to build a profile as a field hockey player. The organization required highlight and practice videos and a resume, citing her accomplishments on the field and statistics for her teams. Before coming to SU, Hoogendoorn added playing in the U-18 Dutch National Championship to her resume.

UStudy then matched Hogendoorn with programs that appeared to be a good fit, based on her traits as a player and her desires in a college. That’s how Bradley and Hogendoorn connected. Through numerous Skype calls, Bradley broke down what Syracuse offered. The playing style, her coaching style, the players on the team, its history and facilities and more. To Bradley, Hogendoorn looked like a perfect fit for an SU team already led by All-Americans Lies Lagerweij and Roos Weers, both Netherlands natives. Bradley was also bringing in current freshman goalie Borg van der Velde, a native of Ede, Netherlands.

“We had a really good connection,” Bradley said. “We work to get the best players we can and we don’t care where we come from. We put together people and compliment each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”

Adapting to American culture, specifically language, Hogendoorn said has presented challenges. Her troubles date back to before she came to the U.S. Playing in the Netherlands, Hogendoorn had a head coach from Liverpool, England, and for her, still playing in her home country, it was a culture shock.

“I think I’m pretty good at English,” Hogendoorn said. “But sometimes it’s a little much. You have to think about something twice before you say it.”

The language barrier is something easier for SU to break down, and for Bradley, it is using her team’s strengths to help others’ weaknesses. During her recruiting process, Hogendoorn regularly chatted with Lagerweij and Weers about the adjustment from the Netherlands to the U.S., and the two captains continue to help her out at school now.

During games and practices, if Hogendoorn doesn’t understand what exactly her coaches or teammates are explaining, the pair is there to translate the message into Dutch. And during games, if it is too hectic to communicate in English, Hogendoorn knows she can just yell something to Weers and Lagerweij and they will know exactly what to do and how to forward the message to the rest of the team.

“It’s really nice to already have people on the team who are (Dutch).” Hogendoorn said. “They know what you’re going through.”

Published on October 16, 2017 at 9:48 pm

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu