Finding Netherlands

Within days of his arrival in Holland as Bloemendaal HC’s foreign signing for the season,this short message on his club’s website caught Sardar Singh’s attention. But with Dutch just about as familiar to him as Greek,he had no idea what it meant. With his club-provided accommodation — a small,comfortable home in the countryside — needing urgent attention from electricians and plumbers,Sardar was to soon forget those puzzling words.

The mystery was solved a few days later when a group of locals — armed with handyman tools,wires,cleaning equipment — landed at his doorstep. “The club said you need help setting up your house,” they told a puzzled Sardar. The air was cleared when they told the Indian star that “Wie helpt Sardar met zijn huis?” meant “Who’ll help Sardar with his house?”

Over the next five days,Sardar had too many helping hands. “The locals painted the house,got some electrical stuff done,got curtains and cleaned up the house for me. I think that was a very good gesture. It took them around 4-5 days to do it; it was really nice of them,” he says. It was a welcome that made the star guest feel at home. Sardar,for his part,instantly felt a sense of belonging to Bloemendaal HC and to Holland.

It wasn’t originally meant to be Holland,though.

Back home from the Asia Cup in July,Sardar had to choose between spending time with his family and a short stint with a club abroad. “In the last five years,we’ve hardly spent time at home. It’s always been camps,tournaments and camps again. In between,we get a break of two weeks or so,” he says.

The exhaustion finally took a toll on his body. Days before the Asia Cup began,he was hospitalised with flu. Despite not being 100 per cent fit,he took part in the tournament,knowing that the five-month break from international competition for the senior team would compensate for the extra burden. His friends and family insisted that he relax at home during the off-season. But Sardar had other plans. “I had the option of staying at home,eating ghar ka khaana and relaxing. But then,you know how healthy Indian food is,” he says. “If I had stayed home,I would have put on and my fitness would have gone for a toss.”

So he traded the paranthas laced with butter for self-cooked daal-roti and salads. Sardar decided he would spend the off-season abroad.

The original destination was Belgium. The tiny European country famous for its waffles and chocolates is fast turning into an international hockey hub. The Belgian League is rated among the strongest in Europe and Sardar had already experienced playing there for KHC Leuven in 2011,along with drag-flicker and close friend Sandeep Singh.

As he was finalising his travel plans to Belgium,Roelant Oltmans made Sardar an offer he couldn’t refuse. The Dutchman,who is Hockey India’s high performance director,presented his captain with an option of playing at Bloemendaal HC. The opportunity to play for the reigning European champions was too big to be missed. “Holland has a great hockey tradition,just like India,and Bloemendaal is a very big club,” he says. “Plus,some of the best players from Holland and Belgium also play for this club. How could I refuse it?”

And before he would even realise,the contract was signed,the tickets were booked and Sardar was on a flight to the Netherlands.

Bloemendaal is to Dutch and European hockey what Ajax was to football. They have won the domestic league 13 times,the Euro Hockey Club Champions Cup and the Euro Hockey League twice each. In Teun de Noojier,they had their own equivalent of Johan Cryuff.

But De Noojier’s retirement earlier this year left a huge void. The club struggled as they tried to get accustomed to life after the legendary attacker. In an attempt to strengthen the squad in the summer,they looked East. And in Sardar,they found a possible replacement. “All these years,we kept on saying Sardar has the quality to walk into any playing XI. He has proved himself in different conditions and here’s another opportunity for him to enhance his reputation,” says Oltmans,a former Bloemendaal coach.

“Who’s this Asian star?” queried the locals as the club unveiled their new signing. “A magician from Delhi,” described Dutch international Tim Jenisskens. “It is often asked,do we need foreign players? We shouldn’t go crazy in getting them. But if we can get someone like Sardar,it’s good for the team and the league overall.”

Jenisskens,who has developed a strong bond with his Delhi Waveriders teammate Sardar in the Hockey India League,has acted as a guide. And Sardar seems to have seamlessly blended into the local lifestyle.

The club offered their star signing a swanky house in Amsterdam and a BMW. To their astonishment,Sardar politely refused both. Instead,he opted for a house in the countryside and requested a bicycle. “Shor se bachna tha paaji. Dilli jaisa mahaul hai wahan. Amsterdam is beautiful but I was looking for something peaceful,” he says. “Still,they have given me a car.”

With matches played only on Sundays and official training sessions held just thrice a week,Sardar has plenty of time to himself. Living alone,he cycles down to the beach once in a while. Apart from its hockey,Bloemendaal is famous for its beach pavilions. They call it the Dutch answer to Ibiza. Sardar has spent hours there,soaking in the sun and de-cluttering his mind.

The silence has rejuvenated him.

In the national set-up,everything revolves around him. When he fails,the team fails. Matching the expectations of his coach and teammates day in,day out for the last five years meant that Sardar had very little time to introspect about his game.

Sardar says the Bloemendaal experience gives him a chance to do just that. Here,Sardar is just another star among a dazzling galaxy of internationals including Jaap Stockmann,Wouter Jolie,Tom Boon and Jenniskens. And it took just one training session for him to realise what was in store for the remainder of his stay. “They do the same things in training like us. But it’s high intensity. Bura haal ho jaata hai,” he says. “When I play against and alongside some of the best players of the world,I know where I stand and where I need to improve.”

Oltmans says he has advised Sardar to focus on his defending in particular. In the new Indian set-up under new coach Terry Walsh and Oltmans as chief coordinator,Sardar is likely to play a much more important role defensively.

And in trying to introduce this new aspect to his game,Sardar has been doing things he had never done before. “I know I need to improve in areas such as tackling and man-marking. We struggled a bit when the previous coach (Michael Nobbs) introduced the concept of man-marking to us. Here I can’t leave the man who is assigned to me. I have to follow him to every part of the pitch. Same is with tackling. I had to learn how to efficiently tackle a player when he is entering our circle,” he says.

Owing to his national team commitments,Sardar joined the team only in September,almost a month after the Dutch league began. Bloemendaal have played six matches,winning three and losing three.

There’s one more month before Sardar returns to India. Till then,he hopes he will continue enjoying the quaintness of a village far from home.