The Orange Lions U20 women are ready for new adventures

Last year was a fantastic year for The Netherlands. During the Women’s U20 European Championship in Sopron, the Lions went all the up to the semi-finals. A win against Spain didn’t happen, but against Italy, a bronze medal became a fact. This year the Lions will compete in the A division again, which will be held in Klatovy in Czech Republic. In group D, their opponents will be France, Italy and Germany.

A brand new adventure

Rosalie Aandewiel, Noor Driessen, Noëlle Droste, Mia Hordijk, Julia Jorritsma, Katoo Koenen and Ilse Kuijt. Those were players from last year’s tournament, who will compete during this year’s tournament again. They will join some new players who were selected by the new coach of U20: Molly McDowell. Last year she was the assistant coach of head coach Laki Lakner. She is definitely not an unknown coach and ex-player in The Netherlands. She knows what it is to become a champion, and she will try to do the same with the Lions. Last July, the Lions went to Porto to play some pre-games against Portugal and Spain U19. All of those games were won by the Lions, and they also played two games against Hungary. One of them were won, so they look ready for their trip to Klatovy.

Having confidence

As said, this U20 team has five new players. One of those players is Kiki Fleuren. She had been competing for quite a while with different Dutch national teams. She used to play in the U16 team, and last year she played with the U18 team. “This U20 team were amazing to reach the bronze medal last year. In order to do the same this year (or even better), we have to keep confidence in ourselves and our style of playing. We love to set quick plays, so that is what has to be steady if we want to win a medal again. For me, as a new player for U20 I have to set those plays as a guard and avoid chaotic situations.”

Roster