Northern Canoe Polo

Erwin Roos Interview, 2002
Erwin Roos has been playing canoe polo for a very long time. He loves winning, and he's acquainted with winning- but the UK have snatched the gold from his grasp for two World Championships in a row. What does he have to say about it all then? Read the interview below, and make up your own mind. Special thanks to Erwin for his candour. He offered to do this interview and has obvious enthusiasm and passion for our sport...
How old are you?
I'm 30 years old, but still feel like 20.
How tall are you, and what is your arm span? Do you weigh over 100 kg?
I'm 1.86 meters and my arm span is long enough to throw a bal 45 meters away. I weigh 76 kilograms.
What kayak and paddle ( brand, length, angle ) do you use?
I paddle my Revenge Nitro with a Flow paddel from Dave Brown, it is 204 centimeters long at 90 degrees, with a Lendall shaft.
Do you have any sponsors? Who are they?
I have a kind of head sponsor, Dave Brown ( DB-Xclusive ). I promote his gear, especially with ladies canoepolo. I also distrubute gear for my sub-sponsor Jack de Bruin from Felix. P&H were also very helpful for a boat at the last moment before a Championship. (My old boat was stolen 3 weeks before the Europeans 2001.)
How long have you played canoe polo?
I started in 1984, and want to go on untill 2006 with the national team, after that I carry on at club level. I played the old Dutch shooting rules for 5 years (waterpolo goals, paddles only etc).
What club do you play for?
I played several clubs, started at Odysseus from Alkmaar (hometown) then went to Rijnland (Leiden) for severall national titles with a bunch of national team players, played 3 seasons for St Albans (London) whit Alan Vessey, star goaly Andy Davis, Stuart Moffit, ladies star Ginny, cannot forget Dave Sanders, Matt, Paul (current Irish coach, blesh him) and Mike Vessey. First two we won the league and then we got second on the third one. Right now I am back at my old club in Alkmaar to play with the youngsters that I have trained for many years.

How many times have you played for the Netherlands, and in what competitions?
I played all the Europeans and all the Worlds, I geuss I have played about 300 matches for Holland. I started to play for the national team in 1991.
What motivates you to play canoe polo?
I am lucky that I enjoy training sessions, and it does not matter for which sport. If you compare hours in training sessions with game hours, the latter will lose by far. I like being on the water playing a game, controlling it and ofcourse shooting some nice goals, trying to be better than others and keeping on learning and improving. I like to invent new things and try them out - can keep me bussy for hours.
What impact does canoe polo have on the rest of your life? What in particular, would you have or do if you were not playing canoe polo?
Canoe Polo has got a big impact, my whole live is settled around canoe polo and not just playing it. There is a lot of pressure every session and every game. People want to see the best of me and when I have a bit of an off day I still want to show them the best. Mentally that is very hard. Besides playing and training myself I have lots of things to do for polo. If I was not playing polo I would probebly be playing soccer or something simulair and if it had to be something to do with canoeing then it would be white water slalom. I would like to have some time for Aikido, a self defense sport.
How many times have you attended the World Championships, and which location has been your favourite so far? Why?
I played all five of the world, Sheffield ( England ), Adelaide ( Australia ), Aveiro ( Portugal ), Sao Paulo ( Brasil ) and Essen ( Germany ) The far away worlds are fun, I did like our tour in Australia and the Worlds there ( My first worlds where I played very well but we ended up 6th. ) As a player walking around on a tounament at the Worlds, my favorite is also Australia. The place were we play has to be player friendly, same as the organising people. There goes Portugal. I like indoor pools, there goes Brasil and Essen ( which was very well organised esspecially for the players ). At my first Worlds in Sheffield I was not very into the international polo world. In Australia I was more aware of things and enjoyed playing very well.
What is your opinion of the last World Championships in Germany?
Last Worlds were well organised, I think the way a player has got to go from changing to warming up, playing etc to changing again is very important. That was done well in Germany. There was a nice atmosphere. As I said I like indoor pools with flat sides and not the wavy pool in Essen. We were lucky with the weather there. The organising people were very friendly ( also the guards ).

The Netherlands have been silver medallists for two consecutive World > Championships. What particular aspect of your game will you (and your team) work on to win gold at the next event?
We like to play five out, the reason why we did beat the German team and also the reason for some goals in the final ( for GB at least ) So if we want to win on five out from GB we need to practisch that part much more.
How many hours a week do you train, and what sort of training do you do?
I do about 24 hours of training a week. That is in the gym, the heavy stuff. Cycling, running, canoeing distances. Canoe polo in many different sessions. Offcourse I like the sessions with the ball.
How on earth do you throw the ball so hard and so flat??
Throwing is a matter of a good, strong and elastic shoulder, elbow and wrist. Do all kind of training sessions to make your body a good shooting machine.
Do you referee, coach or administrate canoe polo? To what level, and for whom?
I have been a referee sincs 1990 and became an ICF referee in 1992. I have been the coach of the Dutch ladies team since 1999 and I administrate canoepolo for the Dutch federation in a way of organising tournaments, checking membersships, organising Dutch championships, making a Dutch canoepolo website for the federation and keeping it up to date ( almost every day ). I am training my hometown club team Odysseus, who I am going to play for again. I train up-coming canoepolo trainers, coaches and referees for the job.
Do you play other sports as well? What other sports have you been involved in?
I do not really play other sports, I like to do mountain biking, rock climbing, diving and playing soccer. I have done athletics and windsurfing on a high level when I was 8 years old. My work is also just sport as a sport instructor and a safety trainer for offshore people.