A boy from Zeeland and hockey

[Thunfish 72]

MIDDELBURG, ZEELAND, THE NETHERLANDS - Schubbekuteveen is a tiny little village in Zeeland, deep into the Dutch backcountry. It's fine if you, the reader of this article, has never ever heard of it - it's hard to even find it on a map. Google didn't bother sending anyone to scout the village and place it in their maps. It helps that the village itself was also overlooked by history itself, having essentially been a mix of dormitory town and family farm of its' local clan, the (understandably named) van de Schubbekuteveen family - so it's not much of a surprise that the village failed to make much of an impact into Dutch society, let alone the history of the world as a whole.

 

Yet, one of its' sons plans to embark on a journey for fame and fortune. Son of the town's currently elected mayor - a man that likes to be called by the nickname "Papa Duke" - the sixteen-year-old Sunrise van de Schubbekuteveen found himself as one of the options that teams on the VHLM were able to pick on the draft. Selected at Round 4, Pick 39; the teenager now finds himself gearing up for the trip to Mexico, the start of his hockey career. The tone in his hometown was of excitement at the day of the draft, even if the family had to stay up late to finally see their child being picked. "We thought he wouldn't be picked at all, in all fairness," stated Sunrise's father, "then again, we should've known better than to try and stay up for the whole draft." His cousins described the experience of seeing their name on an international event as something fascinating but admitted they weren't unsure on whether or not the boy would be able to stand the pressure; something that his father quickly waved off. "We trust him as our representative to the world as a whole. The name of Schubbekuteveen will be known in all corners of the globe, I'm sure of it," he insisted before completing with a rather bored "and I'm sure he'll be good at this hockey thing, surely."

 

His family also built up a reasonable estimative of where the young Dutchman would rank as a prospect in the sport. "He's pretty nice," says classmate Vera, "real smart too. Polite as f###." Other relatives, including his mother, also made a point of defending his character and noting his love for the sport. Sunrise himself, however, seemed more realistic about the subject. "I'm looking forward to my trip to Mexico but I know it's going to be a journey with a lot of hard work," he stated, sounding a bit drowsy from the fact the interview was made not too many hours after the draft and it's likely he had no sleep from it. "Starting at such a young age like I'm doing is a bit of a challenge but I believe I've put up a respectable profile on my rookie tapes... well, as much as a tape of me playing with a cabbage on a grassy pitch could, I guess," he stated before shrugging, "we somehow don't get snow over here."

 

When asked about whether the language barrier would be an issue, he simply shrugged. "English, Dutch, Spanish... none are particularly hard to learn if you put enough into it." He smiled after saying that, completing with a "Perhaps, that's the same with hockey as well, you never know."

[Berocka 2,263]

Ahh yes the OLD Zealand