HC 's-Hertogenbosch

Establishment

The Roman Catholic Mixed Hockey Club 's-Hertogenbosch, now HC 's-Hertogenbosch, was founded on July 14, 1937. The club originated from the sports association of the "Provincial North Brabant Electricity Company," PNEM, now Essent.

The club has been active in the Southern Netherlands Hockey Association since 1932 under the name PSV (PNEM Sports Association). Because only a limited number of clubs participated in the Southern Hockey Association, the desire to affiliate with the Dutch Hockey Association quickly arose. However, this association did not allow affiliated clubs to join, which necessitated a reorganization of the PNEM Sports Association. On July 14, 1937, in what was then the Hotel Royal on Visstraat, the decision to continue as an independent association was made, and the establishment of the Mixed Hockey Club 's-Hertogenbosch was announced with a firm handshake from the chairman. The association, consisting of five board members and ten members, immediately appointed five different committees to get to work quickly.

There are now about 2500 members and countless volunteers!

Association name

The club's name has changed several times, from Sportvereniging PNEM to MHC 's-Hertogenbosch. In 1947, it decided to join the Dutch Catholic Sports Federation (NKS). As a result, an episcopal delegate joined the board, and the name was changed to RK MHC 's-Hertogenbosch. The club's official name is now Hockey Club 's-Hertogenbosch, but it is still commonly referred to as HC Den Bosch.

Accommodation

The club's first home was on—of all places—Kampdijklaan in Vught. Later, they played on Hekellaan in 's-Hertogenbosch, on the complex where the rugby club now plays. In 1951, the De Vliert stadium and its hockey fields were opened. Since 1967, we have been using the complex at Oosterplas. The Olderaan family provided a "garden shed" for making tea and coffee. The municipality provided canteen wagons on high wheels, equipped with toilets and running water, which could serve as changing rooms. The old section of the current clubhouse opened in 1968.

Verenigingskleuren

The club colors, like the club's name, have been subject to constant change. The first club colors, Red-Yellow-Blue, were the PNEM colors. Known in the electrical world as "phase colors." During the war years, textile shortages led to the change to White-Black uniform. After the war, women wore a tartan skirt with a white blouse. Shortly afterward, the colors Gray-Blue were used, while from 1958 onward, the current Black-Yellow uniform was adopted.

Championships

The club has produced many champions throughout its history. Its first championship was won in 1938, in the 3rd division of the KNHB. A newspaper article, likely dating from 1942, mentions that members of PNEM (then already operating under the name MHC 's-Hertogenbosch) participated in representative teams. Women such as Tini Rox, RvGool, K.Krete, and M.Gips, and men such as EvGool and JvWoensel, upheld the club's reputation at the national level.

In the 1950s, Wies Kuijpers, Riet Kuper, and Anton Brouwer were selected for our national teams. As the club grew stronger, more players joined representative field or indoor hockey teams, including Nel van Kollenburg, Miep Voets, Hanneke Schuurmans, Jetty van de Linden, Hans van Bavel, Bart van Lith, Rob Elsenaar, and Carel van der Staak. During this period, Paul Jansen, Harrie Govers, Rini Elsenaar, Walter Beekers, and Paul de Leeuw also played for various national teams. Let's not forget the results of the Women's 1 team, who won the Dutch Indoor Hockey Championship for seven consecutive years. After a few difficult years, the club saw a resurgence in the 1980s. The first artificial turf field (October 1983) gave this a huge boost, resulting in the Men's 1 team being promoted to the national Premier League (1984). Since the 1990s, the club's growth has been accompanied by the achievements of both the Women's 1 and Men's 1 teams.

Names that deserve to be mentioned in connection with these successes are Mijntje Donners, Ageeth Boomgaardt, Minke Booij, Neel van de Leeuw, Margje Teeuwen, Esther Verhoeven, Dillianne van de Boogaard, Lieve van Kessel, Janneke Schopman, Maartje Goderie, Maartje Paumen, Marc Lammers, Jeroen Delmee, Rob Derikx, Sander van der Weijde, Marc van Wijk, Ronald Jansen, Dennis Dijkshoorn, Mathijs Brouwer, Raoul Ehren, Sjoerd Marijne and Piet-Hein Geeris.

The women's team was promoted to the highest level in 1991, already boasting the young Ageeth Boomgaardt and Mijntje Donners. With this foundation, they have become a true powerhouse in Dutch women's hockey. Since 1998, they have won the championship 18 times. Only in 2009 and 2013 did Amsterdam have to claim the title. They also won the European Cup I in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009, and its successor, the EuroHockey Club Cup (EHCC), in 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2016. In addition to the names mentioned above, internationals Minke Booij, Dillianne van den Boogaard, Janneke Schopman, Margje Teeuwen, Jacqueline Toxopeus, and Maartje Goderie have also contributed to this continued success.

The men's team made their debut at the highest level in the 1984/85 season, only to be relegated again that same year. In 1993, they achieved promotion again through the Overgangsklasse championship. They lost the play-off final to Amsterdam in 1997, but won the national championship in 1998 and 2001. They defeated Amsterdam in the 1998 final, and defeated Oranje Zwart in 2001. In 1999, they won the European Cup I tournament by defeating Spanish side Club Egara in the final.

HC 's-Hertogenbosch currently has approximately 2,600 members, making it the second-largest club in the Netherlands. The club has countless volunteers, 49 mini-teams, 62 youth teams, and 51 senior and veteran teams.

Source: Hans van Bavel archive